Table of Contents

Sensory Perception....................................................................... 5
Pain and Temperature...................................................................7
Vestibular Sense........................................................................... 7
Signal Detection Theory................................................................8
Processing...................................................................................9
Sight/Vision................................................................................10
Sound (Audition).........................................................................13
Pheromones...............................................................................15
Olfaction Structure and Function...............................................15
Gustation................................................................................... 16
Sleep and Consciousness.............................................................18
Sleep Disorders..........................................................................20
Hypnosis and Meditation.............................................................21
Types of Psychoactive Substances...............................................21
Routes of Drug Entry...................................................................23
Reward Pathway in Brain.............................................................24
Attention.................................................................................... 25
Models of Attention and Multitasking...........................................28
Memory...................................................................................... 29
Long-Term Potentiation and Synaptic Plasticity.............................34
Aging and Cognitive Abilities.......................................................34
Alzheimers Disease and Korsakoff Syndrome...............................35
Semantic Networks and Spreading Activation...............................35
Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development...................................36
Problem-Solving/Decision-making................................................37
Intelligence................................................................................37
Theories of Language and Cognition............................................39

Theories of Language Development: Nativist, Learning,

Interactionist.............................................................................. 40
Language Components................................................................41
Limbic System............................................................................41
Components of Emotion and Universal Emotions...........................42
Theories of Emotion....................................................................42
Stress........................................................................................ 43
Responding to Stress..................................................................44
Physical effects of stress.............................................................44
Behavioral Effects of Stress.........................................................45
Biological Basis of Behavior: Nervous System...............................45
Motor Unit.................................................................................. 46
Muscle Stretch Reflex.................................................................47
Grey and White Matter................................................................48
Upper Motor Neurons (UMNs)......................................................48
Overview of the Functions of the Cerebral Cortex.........................49
Neurotransmitter (NT) Anatomy..................................................50
Ablation methods.......................................................................52
Ways of Studying the Brain.........................................................52
Endocrine System and Its Influence on Behavior...........................53
Temperament, Heredity, and Genes..............................................55
Twin Studies and Adoption Studies..............................................56
Adoption Studies........................................................................56
Heritability.................................................................................57
Regulatory Genes.......................................................................58
Gene-Environment Interaction.....................................................58
Adaptive Value of Behavioral Traits..............................................59
Instincts, Arousal, Needs, Drives: Drive-Reduction and Cognitive
Theories..................................................................................... 60
Biological and Sociocultural Factors Food, Sex, and Drugs..........60
Components of Attitude..............................................................62
Attitudes Influence Behavior 4 Theories.....................................62
Behavior Influences Attitude.......................................................64

Cognitive Dissonance Theory.......................................................64

Situational Approach...................................................................65
Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality / Behavior..........................65
Humanistic Theory of Personality / Behavior.................................66
Biological Theories of Personality and Behavior............................67
Behaviorist Theory to Personality/Behavior..................................67
Trait Theory of Personality/Behavior............................................68
Social Cognitive Theory...............................................................69
Defense Mechanisms..................................................................69
Psychological Disorders..............................................................70
Biological Basis of Schizophrenia.................................................71
Biological Basis of Depression.....................................................71
Sleep Wake disorder...................................................................73
Biological Basis of Alzheimers disease........................................74
Biological Basis of Parkinsons.....................................................75
Social Psychology.......................................................................75
Normative and Non-Normative Behavior.......................................78
Deviance....................................................................................79
Collective Behavior Aspects.........................................................80
Learning..................................................................................... 81
Persuasion, Attitude Change, and the Elaboration Likelihood Model
.................................................................................................. 83
Self Concept, Self Identity, and Social Identity..............................85
Theories of Development.............................................................87
Social Influences.........................................................................90
George Herbert Mead: The I and the Me.......................................91
Charles Cooley Looking Glass Self..............................................92
Perception, Prejudice, and Bias...................................................93
Emotion and Cognition in Prejudice..............................................94
Stigma- Social and Self...............................................................94
Social Perception........................................................................95
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Ingroup and Outgroup.......96
Social Behavior...........................................................................97

Physical/Romantic Attraction.......................................................97
Secure and Insecure Attachment.................................................98
Aggression...............................................................................100
Altruism...................................................................................101
Social interactions....................................................................101
Organizations and Bureaucratization..........................................103
Biological explanations of social behavior in animals..................104
Evolutionary Game Theory.........................................................107
Social Structures......................................................................107
Functionalism...........................................................................108
Conflict Theory.........................................................................109
Social Constructionism..............................................................110
Symbolic interactionism............................................................111
Feminist Theory........................................................................112
Rational Choice Theory and Exchange Theory.............................112
Relating Social Theories to Medicine..........................................113
Demographics........................................................................... 114
Demographic Structure of Society Race and Ethnicity...............115
Demographic Structure of Society Sex, Gender, and Sexual
Orientation............................................................................... 116
Urbanization............................................................................. 117
Population Dynamics.................................................................119
demographic transition.............................................................120
Globalization Theories...............................................................123
Social Movements.....................................................................124
Culture and Media.....................................................................125
Social Inequality.......................................................................127
Statistics and Studies................................................................129
Internal and External Validity....................................................131
Test Validity.............................................................................. 131
Reliability, Control, Error, Misc. Experiment Jargon......................133
Types of Research Bias..............................................................135
Social Groups and Marriage.......................................................138

Rando......................................................................................139

Sensory Perception
1. What is the motion parallax?
a. relative motion Things farther away move slower, closer moves
faster.
2. How does the inner ear muscle adapt to loud noises?
a. higher noise = muscle contract (this dampens vibrations in inner
ear, protects ear drum.
3. What are down and up regulations to light intensity?
a. Down regulation: light adaptation. When it is bright out, pupils
constrict (less light enters back of eye), and the desensitization
of rods and cones to light
b. Up regulation: Dark adaptation. Pupils dilate, rods and cones
start synthesizing light sensitive molecules
4. How does one find the k-constant of Webers Law?
a. I (JND)/I (initial intensity of stimulus) = k [constant]
5. What is intensity in terms of neural activity?
a. Intensity how quickly neurons fire for us to notice. Slow = low
intensity, fast = high intensity.
6. In what three ways do neurons encode for timing of a
somatosensation?
a. Non-adapting- neuron fires at a constant rate
b. Slow-adapting - neuron fires at the beginning of stimulus and
calms down after a while
c. Fast-adapting - neuron fires as soon as a stimulus startsthen
stops firing. Starts again when stimulus stops.
7. What is the function of dermatomes in determining the location of a
somatosensation?
a. A dermatome is an area of skin that is supplied by a single spinal
nerve, which relays sensation from a particular region of the skin
to the brain.
8. What is the connectome?
i. a neural map of the connections within the brain.

9. What is the difference between sensory adaptation and sensory

amplification?
a. Adaptation is down regulation of a sensory reception while
amplification is up regulation.
10.
Adaptation is at the ________ level and habituation is at the
_________ level?
i. Adaptation is at the sensory level, and habituation is at the
perceptive/cognitive level
11.
What part of the brain contains the somatosensory homunculus
map?
a. All somatosensory information all comes to the sensory strip
which is contained in the somatosensory cortex of the parietal
lobe.
12.
What is proprioception and how does it work?
a. Subconscious sense of balance/position.
b. Tiny little receptor/sensors, known as a spindle, located in our
muscles sends signals that go up to spinal cord and to the brain.
Spindle has a protein that is sensitive to stretching.
c. Sensors contract with muscles so were able to tell how
contracted or relaxed every muscle in our body is.
13.
What is difference between kinesthesia and proprioception?
a. Proprioception includes sense of balance/position, while
kinesthesia includes sense of movement.
b. Proprioception is cognitive, kinesthesia is behavioral
14.
What is the difference between a proximal and a distal stimulus?
i. Distal stimulus is the actual stimulus or object in the real
world that you end up sensing and then perceiving, which
results in the proximal stimulus.
ii. Proximal stimulus is the stimulation that occurs when your
sensory receptors are activated... the neural activity
iii. An example would be a person looking at a shoe on the
floor. The shoe itself is the distal stimulus. The image

recorded onto the person's retina (sensory receptor) is

proximal stimulus.

Pain and Temperature

15.

What is haptic perception?

i. Haptic perception is the exploration of objects through
touch, most often by the hand or fingers.
16.
Temperature and nociception are fast/slow
a. Slow, which seems odd
17.
What receptor do we use to sense temperature (that is also
sensitive to pain), and how does it work?
a. TrypV1
b. There are thousands of these in membranes. Heat causes a
conformational change (change in physical structure) in the
protein.
c. When cell is poked, thousands of cells are broken up, and
releases different molecules that bind to TrypV1 receptor. Causes
conformational change, which activates the cell and sends signal
to brain.
18.
What are the fast, medium, and slow types of nerve fibres?
a. A-beta fibres - Fast ones are thick and covered in myelin (less
resistance, high conductance)
b. A-delta fibres - smaller diameter, less myelin.
c. C fibres - small diameter, unmyelinated (lingering sense of
pain).
19.
How does pain change conformation as well?
a. capsaicin binds the TrypV1 receptor in your tongue, and triggers
the same response.
20.
Sensory versus affective components of pain?
a. Sensory is intensity of pain, affective refers to emotional
experience
21.
What is gate control theory?
a. The gate control theory of pain asserts that non-painful input
closes the "gates" to painful input, which prevents pain
sensation from traveling to the central nervous system.
Therefore, stimulation by non-noxious input is able to suppress
pain.
b. Fast blocks slow - Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall.
22. What is spatial discrimination?
i. The ability to perceive as separate points of contact the tw
o blunt points of a compass when applied to the skin.

Vestibular Sense
23.
At what angle to each other are the posterior, lateral, and
anterior semicircular canals oriented to each other?
a. Orthoganality
24.
How does endolymph in the canals help with vestibular sense?
a. When we rotate the fluid shifts in the semicircular canals allows
us to detect what direction our head is moving in, and because
we can detect how quickly the endolymph is moving we can
determine the strength of rotation.
25.
How do the otolithic organs contribute to the vestibular sense?
a. The utricle senses horizontal motion while the saccule senses
vertical acceleration. This occurs when calcium carbonate
attached to hair cells is moved during body motion and triggers
an action potential.

Signal Detection Theory

26.

When there is a strong signal, what is more likely, a hit or a miss?

a. Hit
27.
Describe the conservative and liberal strategies to signal
detection.
a. Conservative strategy - always say no unless 100% sure signal
is present. Bad thing is might get some misses.
b. Liberal strategy- always say yes, even if you get false alarms.
28.
The sensitivity parameter d represents
a. The difficulty of a task.

29.

Interpret the graph

a. For any signal, have noise distribution (background). And get a

second graph the signal distribution.
b. The difference between means of the two is d. So if signal
shifted to right, d would be big and easy to detect. If left, d very
small and more difficult to detect.
c. X-axis has intensity.
d. The strategy C can be expressed via choice of threshold what
threshold individual deems as necessary for them to say Yes vs.
No. Ex. B, D, C, beta, just different variables.
e. If we were to use the strategy B, lets say choose this threshold
2. So anything > 2 will say Yes, anything <2, say No. So
probability of hit is shaded yellow, and miss is purple.
f. The D-strategy (D = d- B), so lets say d in this example is 1, so
2-1=1. So if we use D strategy, anything above 1 = Yes; anything
below 1 = No.
g. C strategy is an ideal observer. Minimizes miss and false alarm. C
= B d/2. So in our example, its 2- = 1.5. So anything above
a 1.5 is YES, anything below 1.5 is NO.
i. When C = 0, participant is ideal observer. If <1 liberal. If
>1 conservative.
h. Beta (set value of threshold) = to the ratio of height of signal
distribution to height of noise distribution. Ln beta = d x C = 1 x
1.5 = 1.5

Processing
30.
Bottom-up processing is (inductive/deductive), is
(always/sometimes) correct and begins with (stimulus/background
knowledge and expectations).
a. Inductive, always correct, and begins with stimulus.

31.
Top-down is (inductive/deductive), is (always/sometimes) correct
and begins with (stimulus/background knowledge and expectations).
a. Deductive, sometimes, background knowledge and expectations
32.
What is the Law of Prgnanz?
a. People will perceive and interpret ambiguous or complex images
as the simplest form(s) possible.

Sight/Vision
33.

What is the conjunctiva?

a. thin layer of cells that lines the inside of your eyelids from the
eye
34.
The interior chamber is filled with what humor, and what is its
function?
a. filled with aqueous humour, which provides pressure to
maintain shape of eyeball; allows nutrients and minerals to
supply cells of cornea/iris.
35.
What components make up the ciliary body, and what are the
functions of these components and the body as a whole?
a. Ciliary muscle + suspensory ligaments= focus lens in a process
called accommodation
b. Ciliary body secretes aqueous humor
36.
What types of cells make up the retina?
a. Rods, cones, bipolar, and ganglion cells
37.
What are the macula and fovea portions of the retina composed
of?
a. Macula: special part of retina rich in cones, but there are also
rods.
b. Fovea special part of macula. Completely covered in cones, no
rods
c. Rest of retina is covered in rods

38.
What are transmission, perception, processing, and transduction
with regards to vision?
a. Transmission is the electrical activation of one neuron by another
neuron.
b. Perception is conscious sensory experience of neural processing.
c. Processing is the neural transformation of multiple neural signals
into a perception.
d. Transduction occurs whenever energy is transformed from one
form to another; in this case, light energy is transformed to
electrical energy by rods and cones.
39.
What is the spectral range of visible light?
a. Violet (400nm) to Red (700nm)
40.
What is an overview of the phototransduction cascade (PTC)?
a. Light hits rod/cone (which causes it turns off) bipolar cell
(turns on) retinal ganglion cell (turns on) optic nerve brain
41.
Explain the Trichromatic Theory of color vision:
a. We have red, green, and blue cones, which mix together to
perceive color. But the issue is that we cant mix red/green or
blue/yellow.
42.
Explain Young-Helmholtz/Opponent Process Theory of color
vision:
a. We have red/green and blue/yellow pairings of cones that oppose
each other. Only one color can dominate at a time
43.
Explain the PTC in more detail

a. Inside rods/cones are a lot of optic disks stacked on top of one

another.
b. A lot of proteins are on the disks. On rods there is rhodopsin, on
cones photopsin
i. These are multimeric protein with 7 discs, which contain a
small molecule called 11-cis retina. When light hits the
retinal, it changes to straight conformation (11-trans
retinal).
c. When retinal changes shape, rhodopsin/photopsin changes shape
too(closely linked molecules). This begins the cascade.
d. Next, a G-protein called transducin made of 3 different parts
alpha, beta, and gamma- attached to the opsin, activated.
i. When the rhodopsin changes shape, transducin breaks
from rhodopsin/photopsin, and alpha subunit binds to
another disk protein called phosphodiesterase (PDE).
ii. PDE takes cGMP and converts it to regular GMP. [So when
light hits, it lowers concentration of cGMP and increases
concentration of GMP]
1. Lots of Na+ channels on the rods/cones allow Na+
ions to come in
2. cGMP bound to Na+ channel, keeps the channel open
and hence ON, as cGMP concentration decreases
(due to the PDE which converts it into GMP), Na+
channel closes and cell turns OFF
3. When Na+ channels become unbound of cGMP, less
Na+ enters the cell, then cell hyperpolarization
occurs and turn OFF
e. Next, bipolar cells bipolar turn on, which activates retinal
ganglion cell, which sends signal to optic nerve to brain.
44.
What are major differences between rods and cones
a. 120M rods per eye vs. 6M cones per eye
b. Cones are concentrated in fovea (directly behind lens) while rods
are spread out
i. Fovea receives less light and thus has higher resolution
than rods
c. Rods have slower recovery time than cones (why it takes while to
adjust to dark)
45.
How does visual field processing occur in the opposing
hemispheres of the brain?
a. All right visual field goes to left side of brain, all left visual field
goes to right side of brain.
b. Rays of light from the left visual field hits the NASAL side of the
left eye and hits the TEMPORAL side of the right eye
c. Rays of light from the right visual field hits the NASAL side of the
right eye and hits the TEMPORAL side of the left eye

46.
How does divergence of the nasal and temporal sides occur at
the optic chiasm?
a. All light from the nasal side of both eyes cross to the other side
so left nasal info goes to the right side and vice versa.
b. On the other hand, all axons leading from the temporal side DO
NOT CROSS the optic chiasm.
c. What it effectively does, is the right visual field goes to the left
brain and the left visual field goes to the right side of the brain

47.
a.

48.
a.
49.
a.
50.
a.
b.
c.

What are features of the color detection system?

Color (cones; trichromatic theory of color vision three types
of cones. RED (60%), GREEN (30%), BLUE (10%). Red object=
reflects red, green object= reflects green, and blue object
reflects blue.
What are features of the form system?
Parvocellular pathway good at spatial resolution (boundaries
and shapehigh levels of details) and color via cones. But poor
temporal (cant detect motiononly stationary)
What are features of the temporal/motion system?
Magnocellular pathway: has high temporal (think time, motion)
resolution [encodes motion]. But has poor spatial resolution; no
color). Rods responsible.
Identify photopic, mesopic, and scotopic vision.
Photopic vision occurs at levels of high light levels.
Mesopic vision occurs at dawn or dusk and involves both rods
and cones.
Scotopic vision occurs at levels of very low light.

Sound (Audition)
51.

What is tonotopy?
a. the special mapping of sound frequencies that are processed by
the brain, also called the tonotopic map.
52.
What two things do we need to hear?
a. Pressurized sound wave (stimulus) and hair cell (receptor in the
cochlea)
53.
What are sound waves?
a. Air molecules are pressurized and try to escape, creating areas of
high and low pressure
54.
The relationship between wavelength (how close peaks are) and
frequency is (direct/inverse)?
a. Inverse (higher wavelength =lower frequency)
55.
Do higher or lower frequencies penetrate deeper into the
cochlea?
a. Lower. THINK: long wavelengths can travel farther.
56.
How does the ear break up noises of different frequencies?
a. Sound waves travel different lengths along the cochlea.
57.
Explain the parts of the ear:
a. Pinna: outer, visible portion of ear
b. Auditory canal: carry sound waves to
c. Tympanic membrane/eardrum: vibrates back and forth and
causes the three
d. Ossicles (malleus/hammer, incus/anvil, and stapes/stirrup): to
vibrate and cause the
e. Oval/elliptical window: to vibrate and push fluid into the
f. Cochlea: snail-shaped structure lined with hair cells/cilia
58.
Where does fluid go after through the cochlea?
a. Round/circular window to be pushed out
59.
Why doesnt fluid go back out the oval window?
a. The organ of Corti (includes basilar and tectorial membrane)
prevents it
60.
What is the general classification of the ear sections?
a. External/Outer ear: from pinna to tympanic membrane
b. Middle ear: From malleus to stapes (three ossicles)
c. Inner ear: Cochlea and semicircular canals
61.
Describe the Organ of Corti and how the hair cells are activated
in it?
a. Upper and lower membrane, and little hair cells. As fluid flows
around the organ, it causes hair cells to move back and forth.
b. At the upper membrane: The hair cell/cilia is called the hair
bundle and it is made of little filaments. Each filament is called a
kinocilium. Tip of each kinocilium is connected by a tip link
which is attached to gate of K+ channel. When the tip links get
pushed back and forth by endolymph movement, they stretch

62.

63.

64.
65.

and allows K+ to flow inside the cell from the endolymph (which
is K+ rich)
c. Ca2+ cells get activated when K+ is inside, so Ca2+ also flows into
the cell, and causes AP, which then activates a spiral ganglion
cell, which then activates the auditory nerve.
What is basilar tuning and how does it work?
a. basilar tuning there are varying hair cells in cochlea and
allows brain to distinguish between high and low frequency
sounds.
b. Hair cells at base (start of cochlea) of cochlea are activated by
high frequency sounds, and those at apex (end of cochlea) by
low frequency sounds.
i. As sounds of different frequencies reach the ear, they will
stimulate different parts of the basilar membrane.
ii. Apex = 25 Hz, base = 1600 Hz.
iii. As sound enters the cochlea, it travels and activates the
hair cell that matches its frequency and it is mapped to a
particular part of the brain. The primary auditory cortex
(part of temporal lobe) receives all info from cochlea. It is
separated by regions which detect different frequencies
(0.5 kHz 16 kHz).
iv. So with basilar tuning, brain can distinguish different
frequencies tonotopical mapping.

What is interaural time difference?

i. describes the difference in time it takes a sound to reach
the left vs the right ear.
What is the acoustic shadow?
i. region of reduced amplitude of a sound because it is
obstructed by the head.
What is the interaural level difference?
i. describes the difference in sound pressure level between
the ears. The head dampens the overall sound to the far
ear and reduces the intensity of the high frequency tones

66.

67.

68.

due to the acoustic shadow, but not the low frequency

tones.
What is the cone of confusion?
i. A cone-shaped set of points, radiating outwards from a
location midway between an organism's ears, from which a
sound source produces identical phase delays and
transient disparities, making the use of such binaural cues
useless for sound localization. All of the points on the cone
of confusion have the same interaural level difference and
interaural time difference.
How do cochlear implants work?
a. A surgical procedure that attempts to restore some degree of
hearing to individuals with sensorineural narrow hearing loss
aka `nerve deafness`
b. Sound -> microphone -> transmitter (outside the skull) sends
info to the receiver (inside skull). Then it sends info to the
stimulator, into the cochlea, and cochlea converts electrical
impulse into neural impulse that goes to brain. Restores some
degree of hearing
What is the McGurk effect?
a. The McGurk effect is a perceptual phenomenon that
demonstrates an interaction between hearing and vision in
speech perception. The illusion occurs when the auditory
component of one sound is paired with the visual component of
another sound, leading to the perception of a third sound.

Pheromones
69.

What are pheromones?

a. Specialized olfactory cells from one species that trigger an innate
response in another member of same species.
70.
What is the accessory olfactory epithelium?
a. Specialized part of olfactory epithelium in animals that sends
projections to accessory olfactory bulb, which then sends signals
to brain
71.
Where is the vomeronasal system located and what cells are it
made of?
a. Located in accessory olfactory epithelium, basal and apical cells
that have receptors at tips.
72.
How do basal/apical cells cause pheromones to be released?
a. Molecule will come in and activate receptor on basal cell/apical
cell here. Basal cell sends axon through accessory olfactory
bulb to glomerulus, then mitral or tufted cell which
eventually goes to the amygdala (part of the brain)

73.

b. Signal transduction is where signal binds to receptor, which binds

to GPCR. Depolarization. Signal goes to brain
Why dont humans rely much on pheromones?
a. humans have vomeronasal organ, but no accessory olfactory
bulb. As a result, we rely very little on pheromones.

Olfaction Structure and Function

74.

What part of the nostril are the olfactory sensory cells located?
a. olfactory epithelium
75.
What separates the olfactory epithelium from the brain and how
does it let olfactory sensation to enter the brain?
a. Cribriform plate, had little holes that allow projections to get
through
76.
What is the glomerulus of an olfactory bulb?
a. glomerulus designation point for various sensory olfactory
cells that are sensitive to the same molecule
77.
What are mitral/tufted cells and what is their purpose?
a. At the glomerulus, the receptors then synapse on another cell
known as a mitral/tufted cell that project to the brain. This
organization is there because its easier for one cell to send a
projection to the brain instead of thousands.
78.
How does a molecule bind to a receptor and cause an AP?
a. The molecule binds to the GPCR receptor on odor molecule
GPCR on olfactory epithelia G-protein dissociates and causes a
cascade of events inside the cell G protein binds to ion
channel which allows cells outside the cell to come inside
opens and triggers an AP goes to cribriform plate
glomerulus activate mitral/tufted cell synapse to brain.
b. Idea: 100 of different olfactory epithelial each sensitive to one
particular molecule. They all send projections to one glomerulus
respective to their specialization. Then they synapse onto a
mitral/tufted cell which signals to the brain
79.
Why are smell and taste ipsilateral, and what does this mean?
a. Neither smell nor taste synapse on the thalamus, and ipsilateral
means they affect the same side/part of the body
b. Without the thalamus, the olfactory tracts do not CROSS each
other. This means that a smell in the right nostril will go to the
right side of the brain, and a smell in the left nostril will go to the
left side.
80.
What are the three theories of how receptors maintain specificity
with regards to an olfactory stimulus?
a. The labeled-line theory of olfaction describes a scenario where
each receptor would respond to specific stimuli and is directly
linked to the brain.

81.

b. The vibrational theory of olfaction asserts that the vibrational

frequency of a molecule gives that molecule its specific odor
profile.
c. Steric theory of olfaction, or shape theory, asserts that odors
fit into receptors similar to a lock-and-key.
What is the general overview of olfactory pathway?
a. The pathway for olfaction goes from the olfactory bulb to the
amygdala and the piriform cortex. From there the signal is
transmitted to the orbitofrontal cortex.

Gustation
82.
a.
83.
a.
84.
a.
b.
c.

85.

What is the scientific explanation of glutamate?

ability to taste glutamate
In what structures are taste buds located?
They are located in papillae
What are the three types of papillae that cause taste sensation?
Fungiform papillae are mushroom-shaped structures located on
the tip and sides of the tongue, which contain taste buds.
Foliate papillae are folded structures at the back of the tongue on
both sides, which contain taste buds.
Circumvallate papillae are flat mound structures that are found
at the back of the tongue and contain taste buds.

What are taste buds and where are they most commonly found?
a. In each taste bud are the 5-receptor cells that can detect each
taste. Each taste can be detected anywhere on the tongue. Each
taste bud has cells specialized for each of the 5 tastes.
b. Mostly on anterior part of tongue.

86.
a.

87.
a.
88.
a.
b.

89.
a.
90.
a.
b.
c.

What are filiform papillae and where are they found?

Filiform papillae do not contain taste buds and exist all over the
tongue. The center of the tongue contains only filiform papillae.
This is why stimulation of the center of the tongue does not
cause a taste sensation, while the back and perimeter produce a
broad range of taste sensations.
What protein is strongly associated with taste?
Gustducin
How does the labelled lines model connect to taste?
Each taste bud receptor has 5 axon, which all send separate
taste information to different parts of the gustatory (taste)
cortex, while remaining separate of the brain.
Ex. Glucose hits tongue activates sweet cell (because it has
sweet sensitive receptors), triggers cascade of events so cell
depolarizes, and travels down axon to the brain.
i. Glucose binds to G-protein-coupled-receptor (GCPR),
causes a conformational change, G-protein subunit
dissociates, opens ion channels, causes cell to depolarize
and fire an AP
What types of taste rely on GCPRs?
Sweet, umami, and bitter
What types of taste rely on ion channels and how do they work?
Sour and salty
They bind to receptors directly. Ex: NaCl binds to receptor and
causes ion channel to open, and + ions outside flow in. Cell
depolarizes and fires an AP.
Sour tastants bind to sourness receptors that react with
hydrogen cations (H+). Once H+ binds to the receptor, it closes
potassium channels.

Sleep and Consciousness

91.
What are the four types of brainwaves and what level of
consciousness are they associated with?
a. Beta (12-30Hz) associated with awake/concentration. If you are
alert for too long, beta levels get high and you experience
increased stress, anxiety, restlessness- constant awakened
alertness.
b. Alpha waves (8-13 Hz) in daydreaming state. Lower frequency
than beta waves. Disappear in drowsiness but reappear later in
deep sleep.
c. Theta waves (4-7 Hz) slower/lower frequency than alpha waves.
Right after you fall asleep/when you are sleeping lightly.
d. Delta waves (0.5-3 Hz) Slower/lower frequency than theta
waves. Deep sleep or coma.

92.
what
a.
b.

What waves dominate the first stage of non-REM (N1) sleep and
phenomena are associated with this stage?
Dominated by theta waves.
Hypnagonic hallucinations: hearing or seeing things that
arent there
c. Tetris effect if you play Tetris right before bed, you might see
visual images of blocks during sleep. OR Ex. Been on a boat all
day, you might still feel like you are on water even when on dry
land
d. Also a feeling of falling hypnic jerks- muscle twitches you
sometimes experience as you fall asleep
93.
What waves dominate N2 stage of sleep and what phenomena
are associated with this stage?
a. More theta waves
b. Sleep spindles are a burst of rapid brain activity. Some
researchers think that sleep spindles help inhibit certain
perceptions so we maintain a tranquil state during sleep. Sleep
spindles in some parts of brain associated with ability to sleep
through loud noises.
c. K-complexes - suppress cortical arousal and keep you asleep.
Also help sleep-based memory consolidation (some memories
are transferred to long term memory during sleep, particularly
declarative/explicit memories). Even though they occur naturally,
you can also make them occur by gently touching someone
sleeping. that touch was not threatening, stay asleep brain
94.
What waves dominate N2 stage of sleep and what phenomena
are associated with this stage?
a. Very slow Delta waves

b. Where sleep walking/talking in sleep happens

c. declarative memory consolidation.
95.
What waves dominate REM and what phenomena are associated
with this stage?
a. important for memory consolidation of procedural memory and
formation of episodic memories
b. Combination of alpha, beta, and de-synchronous waves, similar
to beta waves seen when awake
c. paradoxical sleep, because brain is active and awake but body
prevents it from doing anything.
d. REM sleep more before you wake up
i. More N3 sleep right as you go to bed.
96.
What is order of sleep cycles and how long is one cycle?
a. Order within cycle goes from N1 -> N2 -> N3 -> N2 -> REM N1
b. Each cycle lasts 90 minutes and we cycle through them 4-5
times per long period of sleep
c. How long each stage lasts depends on how long youve been
asleep and your age (babies spend more time in REM sleep)
97.
How can you tell that someone is dreaming during REM?
a. eyes are moving rapidly under eyelids
b. brainwaves look like they are completely awake. These are
the memorable dreams (NREM ones are not memorable)
c. Activity in prefrontal cortex during REM sleep is decreased
part responsible for logic. Why things in our dreams that defy
logic dont seem weird.
98.
What are the other evolutionary/biological theories behind
dreaming?
a. Threat simulation, to prepare for real world.
b. Problem solving
c. No purpose
d. Maintain brain flexibility allows us to learn and be creative
when we are awake
e. Consolidate thoughts to long-term memory, and cleaning up
thoughts. People who learn + sleep retain more than those who
do not sleep. But role of REM is unclear.
f. Preserve and developing neural pathways. Because infants
constantly developing new neural networks spend most of time
in REM sleep.
g. Memory consolidation theorist: memory consolidated in deep
sleep.
99.
What is the Activation-Synthesis hypothesis behind dreaming?
a. Brain gets a lot of neural impulses in brainstem, which are
sometimes interpreted by the frontal cortex.
b. Brainstem = activation, and cortex = synthesis.
c. Our brain is simply trying to find meaning from random brain
activity. Therefore, dreams might not have meaning.

Sleep Disorders
100.

What is narcolepsy and how can it be treated?

a. Various fits of sleepiness, going into REM sleep. Have fits (usually
5 minutes) that can occur any time. 1 in 2000.
b. Indications that it is genetic, and linked to absence of alertness
neurotransmitter (hypocritin/orexin).
c. Neurochemical interventions can cause someone to overcome
narcolepsy potentially.
101.
What is the primary role of hypocritin/orexin?
i. The primary role of hypocritin (also called orexin) in the
CNS is to control sleep and arousal.
102.
What is sleep apnea?
a. 1 in 20 people. People with it are often unaware. Stop breathing
while sleeping body realizes youre not getting enough oxygen,
wake up just long enough to gasp for air and fall back asleep
without realizing. Can happen 100x/night!
i. Dont get enough N3 (Stage 3; slow-wave) sleep.
ii. Snoring is an indication, or fatigue in morning after full
night of sleep.
103.
Excessive sleepiness is a consequence of?
a. is a consequence of the accumulation of adenosine. Cells
responsible for arousal are inhibited by adenosine
monophosphate (AMP).
b. can be caused by a large sleep debt

Hypnosis and Meditation

104.
Hypnosis and meditation are examples of ________ ___________ of
consciousness.
a. Induced states, dont occur naturally
105.
What is the Dissociation Theory of hypnosis?
a. hypnotism is an extreme form of divided consciousness
106.
What is the Social Influence Theory of hypnosis?
a. people do and report whats expected of them, like actors caught
up in their roles
107.
What waves are more common in hypnosis and light meditation?
a. Alpha waves (Alpha-Awake)
108.
What is the right anterior insula associated with that is increased
by meditation?
a. Attention control

Types of Psychoactive Substances

109.
of?

What are depressants and what three categories are they made

a. drugs that lower your bodys basic functions and neural activity,
lower CNS activity (decrease arousal/stimulation in areas of our
brain)
b. alcohol, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines
110.
What are the symptoms of the most popular depressant, alcohol?
a. Decreased inhibitions, so decreasing cognitive control
b. Lack of coordination, slurring of speech
c. Think more slowly, disrupt REM sleep (alcoholic blackout)
d. Binds to site on GABAA receptor complex that sensitivity of the
sensitivity of the receptor
111.
What are barbiturates medically used for?
a. used to induce sleep or reduce anxiety (calm them down)
Depress your CNS.
b. Anesthesia or anticonvulsant (drugs that reduce seizures)
c. Not often prescribed due to negative side effects such as
reduced memory, judgment and concentration, with alcohol can
lead to death (most drugs w/ alcohol are bad)
112.
How do the most commonly prescribed suppressants,
benzodiazepines, work?
a. Subscribed for same things as barbiturates - sleep aids (to treat
insomnia) or anti-anxiety or seizures (anticonvulsant)
b. Enhance your brains response to GABA. They open up GABAactivated chloride (Cl-) channels in your neurons, and make
neurons more (-) charged.
c. 3 types: short, intermediate, and long-acting. Short and
intermediate are usually for sleep, while long acting is for
anxiety.
d. -zelam, -zolam
113.
What are stimulants and common examples?
a. are drugs that excite your CNS, increase HR/BP, alertness, more
awake, more energetic. Can cause people to feel glittery
b. effect is similar to stress, with increased glucose metabolism in
brain
i. Cocaine: blocks dopamine reuptake.
ii. Amphetamines both block dopamine reuptake and
stimulate presynaptic dopamine release.
iii. Caffeine inhibits phosphodiesterase (enzyme) that breaks
down cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate). The
increase in cAMP increases glutamate production. This
increase in cellular activity results in action potentials that
are briefer and released in bursts.
iv. Nicotine acts on acetylcholine (receptor agonist)
v. THC works on anandamide. Increase dopamine and GABA
activity.
114.
Would drinking coffee (stimulant) after drinking alcohol
(depressant) make you sober?

a. Stimulant and depressants are functionally opposite but dont

actually work on same things on a neurochemical level. Drinking
coffee after drinking alcohol wont sober you up, just will make
you an alert drunk person.
115.
What are the emotional effects of hallucinogens/psychedelics?
a. Can give them energy or calm them down
b. Emotional responses - Feeling of connectedness and mood
swings (changing moods)
c. Exact effect can be different depending on an individuals or who
they are with while taking them
116.
How do hallucinogens work?
a. LSD modifies serotonin neurotransmission, especially the 5-HT2
receptor family.
117.
What is the difference between opiates and opioids?
a. Opiates natural, while Opioids - synthetic
118.
How are opiates related to depressants?
a. Like depressants: Decrease CNS function, decrease HR/BP, cause
relaxation, induce sleep (hence can be used to treat pain and
anxiety)
b. BUT it is NOT a depressant. Work on different mechanisms at the
neurochemical level and can cause euphoria
i. Different class than depressants, even though overlapping
for anxiety, because opiates act on endorphin receptors
119.
What is an analgesic?
a. Substance that reduces pain perception
120.
What category of psychoactive drug is cannabis/marijuana?
a. a mix of all. Can be a hallucinogen and also be a depressant or a
stimulant
121.
What is Molly/MDMA/Ecstasy?
a. synthetic drug between a stimulant and hallucinogen.
b. Like stimulant - Increases dopamine and serotonin and euphoria.
Also stimulates the bodys CNS. Effects include: high BP,
dehydration, overheating, death
i. Can damage neurons that produce serotonin, which has
several functions including moderating mood. No serotonin
= depressed mood
c. heightened sensations, ex. artificial feeling of social
connectedness and intimacy
122.
What is the main ingredient of marijuana and what are its
symptoms?
a. Main active chemical is THC, which heightens sensitivity to
sounds, tastes, smells.
b. Like alcohol, (depressant) - reduces inhibition, impairs motor and
coordination skills, perceptual skills, and memory formation

123.

How can location of drug/time of use affect homeostasis?

a. If youre in a new location/different time but take same level of
drugs, you might overdose. This is because in the new location
your body has not prepared by reducing HR/metabolism because
it hasnt witnessed its cues (same location, same time) that alert
it to prepare for the incoming drugs.

Routes of Drug Entry

124.

Why is oral the slowest route of drug entry?

a. one of slowest routes because goes through GI tract half hour.
Ex. Pill
125.
What is insufflation and why is it faster than oral ingestion?
a. Insufflation, inhaling drugs through the nose. is faster because
inhaled drugs go directly to the brain
126.
What are the two types of injection, and describe their them.
a. Transdermal drug is absorbed through skin, ex. Nicotine
patch. Drug in patch has to be pretty potent, released into
bloodstream over several hours.
b. Transdermal administration occurs slowly, since the drugs have
to be absorbed through the skin before the effects can be felt.
c. Intramuscular needle stuck into muscle. Can deliver drugs to
your system slowly or quickly.
d. Ex: Quick Delivery - epiPen given to someone experiencing an
allergic reaction which starts closing airways. EpiPen delivers

epinephrine quickly and allows airways to open). Usually on thigh

because it has the most access points to blood vessels
e. Ex: Slow Delivery Vaccines. Intramuscular delivery of vaccines is
why your arm gets so sore after shots.
f. Intramuscular injection is the fastest route of entry. Most
abused drugs are injected intravenously, however.
127.
What is the relationship between route of entry and addictive
potential?
a. Faster route of entry = more addictive potential.

Reward Pathway in Brain

128.

What is the function of serotonin?

i. Serotonin also has many functions but is most often
associated with mood, appetite, social behavior, and
memory.
129.
Where is the neurotransmitter dopamine produced?
a. Ventral tegmental area (VTG) of the midbrain
130.
Where does VTA release dopamine to?
a. The mesolimbic pathway:
i. amygdala (connected to hippocampus that controls
emotion) says this was enjoyable.
1. Ex. This cake is delicious; I love this cake. I am
feeling so happy right now.
ii. Hippocampus remembers everything about this
environment so we can do it again,
1. Ex: Where am I at? Where am I eating this cake? Who
am I with? Lets remember things about this
experience
iii. nucleus accumbens controls motor function
1. Ex: says lets take another bite.
b. Prefrontal cortex: focuses attention
i. Ex. Put attention to cake
131.
As dopamine increases, serotonin (increases/decreases) and
does what to the perception of satiety?
a. At same time dopamine goes up (increase sense of euphoria),
serotonin goes down.
i. Serotonin - partially responsible for feelings of satiation. So
if serotonin goes down, you are less likely to be satiated or
content.
132.
What is tolerance?
a. Tolerance is a shift in the dose-response curve that causes
decreased sensitivity to a drug due to exposure.
b. Ex. Just took cocaine, lots of dopamine in synapse. Post-synaptic
neuron has receptors for dopamine. Long-term stimulation can
lead to brain shutting down some receptor because of high levels

of dopamine; therefore, same amount of drugs wont cause same

high. Called tolerance.
133.
What is cross-tolerance?
a. a reduction in the efficacy or responsiveness to a novel drug due
to a common CNS target.
134.
What are the two stages of withdrawal from a substance, and
describe them?
i. Acute (few weeks, physical withdrawal symptoms, different
for each drug/person). For alcohol, only 2 days after
cessation of consumption, improvement seen 4-5 days.
ii. Post Acute (fewer physical symptoms, more
emotional/psychological symptoms, same symptoms for
everyone)
135.
How long do post-acute withdrawal episodes last and how long
does the overall withdrawal last?
i. Each post-acute withdrawal episode usually last for a few
days.
ii. Post-acute withdrawal usually lasts for 2 years.
136.
How does methadone work to treat opioid abuse?
i. Methadone activates opiate receptors, but acts more
slowly, so it dampens the high. Reduces cravings, eases
withdrawal, and if heroine is taken the user cant
experience the high because receptors are already filled
with longer-acting methadone.
137.
What is motivational interviewing?
i. interviewing involves working with patient to find intrinsic
motivation to change. Very focus, goal directed therapy.
Few sessions and can be doorway for patient to engage in
another treatment (like CBT or group meetings).

Attention
138.
139.

140.

What is joint attention?

i. Joint attention is the focusing of attention on an object by
two separate individuals.
What is selective attention?
i. Selective attention is the ability to maintain focused
attention while being presented with masking or interfering
stimuli.
What are the 2 types of cues that can direct our attention?
i. Exogenous /External Cues: Dont have to tell ourselves to
look for them in order for them to capture our attention Ex.
Bright colors, loud noises, pop-out effect)
1. Exogenous attention is driven by bottom-up or
external events, i.e. pop-out.

141.

142.

ii. Endogenous Cues / Internal Cues - Require internal

knowledge to understand the cue and the intention to
follow it Ex. A mouse arrow, would need internal arrow of
what an arrow is to follow it and to know its not just a
random line.
1. Endogenous attention is driven by topdown or
internal events, i.e. the cocktail effect.
2. Cocktail party effect ability to concentrate on one
voice amongst a crowd. Or when someone calls your
name (endogenous cue: meaning of name draws
attention)
What is inattentional/perceptual blindness?
i. Inattentional blindness is the inability to recognize an
unexpected object, event, or stimulus that is in plain
sight. This is due to a psychological lapse in attention,
rather than a defect or deficit in sensory perception.
1. Ex: you cant say where the nearest fire extinguisher
is because you fail to notice it because your attention
is typically elsewhere. This is true even though fire
extinguishers are brightly colored and essential to
survival (which should bring them to your attention)

143.

What is the difference between distal and proximal stimuli?

i. Distal stimuli are objects and events out in the world about
you. Aware of and respond to this this is what is
important.
ii. Proximal stimuli are the patterns of stimuli from these
objects and events that actually reach your senses (eyes,
ears, etc.). It is the light that is actually falling on the
retina.
What are the three parts of Posners model of attention?

144.

i. Alerting is the process involved in becoming and staying

attentive toward the surroundings. It appears to exist in the
frontal and parietal lobes of the right hemisphere, and is
modulated by norepinephrine produced in the locus
ceruleus.
ii. Orienting is the directing of attention to a specific stimulus.
iii. Executive attention is is involved in goal-directed behavior,
monitoring conflicts between internal processes, and
anticipating the effects of behavior. Dopamine from the
ventral tegmental area is associated with executing
attention.
how is alerting attention affected by age and schizophrenia?

i. is affected by regular aging but deficits are not often

associated with schizophrenia
145.
What is the difference between covert and overt orienting?
a. Covert orienting is the act of bringing the spotlight of attention
on an object or event without body or eye movement.
b. Overt orienting, a person turns all or part of the body to alter or
maximize the sensory impact of an event.
146.
What is neglect syndrome?
i. occurs when damage to the brain causes a change or loss
in the capacity of the spatial dimension of divided
attention.
147.
What is the main purpose of vigilance attention and signal
detection?
i. processes that attempt to detect a signal or target of
interest. This allows responses to be primed and quick
actions undertaken in response to the signal or target of
interest, i.e. a pothole in the road is detected and
avoidance actions are undertaken.
148.
What neurotransmitter and what part of the brain are most
involved in orienting attention?
i. This network is predominantly modulated by acetylcholine
produced in the basal forebrain.
ii. The basal forebrain is a collection of structures located to
the front of and below the striatum. It includes the nucleus
accumbens, nucleus basalis, and medial septal nuclei.
These structures are important in the production
of acetylcholine, which is then distributed widely
throughout the brain. The basal forebrain is considered to
be the major cholinergic output of the central nervous
system (CNS).
149.
What is the shadowing task and how does it help develop
theories of selective attention?
i. Shadowing task Experiment that studies selective
attention. In this task you are wearing headphones and
they have two different sounds in each. Left ear hear one
thing, right ear another thing. Told to repeat everything
said in one ear and ignore the other. Focus on one ear and
ignore the other (selective attention). Based on the
unattended information that we do and dont end up
comprehending - we can learn about how selective
attention works by seeing what they filter out in other ear.
3 theories
150.
Describe Broadbents early selection theory?

i. All information in environment goes into sensory register

(which briefly registers/stores all sensory information you
receive) then the info gets transferred to selective filter
right away which identifies what you are supposed to be
attending to via basic physical characteristics and filters
out stuff in unattended ear based on things you dont need
to understand to identify (based on voice, pitch, speed,
accents, etc) and finally information moves to perceptual
processes identifies friends voice and assigns meaning to
words. Then you can engage in other cognitive processes
such as deciding how to respond.
ii. Sensory register selective filter perceptual process
Conscious.
iii. Some problems if you completely filter out unattended
info, shouldnt be able identify your own name in
unattended ear but, you can as explained by Cocktail
party effect.

151.

152.

What is Deutch & Deutchs Late Selection Theory?

i. Places Broadband selective filter after perceptual
processes. This means that you DO register and assign
everything meaning but then selective filter decides
what you pass on to conscious awareness.
ii. Sensory register perceptual process selective filter
Conscious
iii. Some problems This whole process has to occur quickly,
but given limited resources of attention and knowing are
brains are super-efficient it seems wasteful to spend all
that effort assigning meaning to things first which you
wont ever need.
iv. Acronym: The Dutch pay attention to/perceive
EVERYTHING!
What is Treismans Attentuation Theory?
i. Instead of complete selective filter, have an attenuator
weakens but doesnt eliminate input from unattended ear.
Then some gets to perceptual processes, so still assign

meaning to stuff in unattended ear, just not high priority.

Then switch if something important.
ii. Sensory register attenuator perceptual process
Conscious
153.
How did Johnson and Heinzs experiment connect difficulty of
task to attenuator?
i. Johnson and Heinz proposed that the location of the
information attenuator (sometimes described as a
bottleneck) was able to be varied by the listener depending
on the demand necessitated by a particular attention task.

Models of Attention and Multitasking

154.

155.

156.
157.

Describe the spotlight model of attention?

i. Selective attention takes info from 5 senses, but dont
pay attention to everything.
ii. Aware of things on an unconscious level ex. Priming,
where exposure to one stimulus affects response to
another stimulus, even if we havent been consciously
paying attention to it.
iii. Were primed to respond to our name. So its a strong
prime for pulling our attention.
Describe the resource model of attention?
i. we have limited resources in attention. Resources that are
easily overtasked if we try to pay attention to multiple
things @ once.
ii. Both models say something about our ability to multitask
not very good at it.
iii. Supported by research study: ex. Dichotic
listening/shadowing task, you arent able to focus on both
the attended channel and the unattended channel. You
are able to recall info from the attended channel, but not
the unattended channel.
How does multitasking fit into the spotlight model of attention?
i. Multitasking is just repeated switching of
spotlight/attention
What three factors influence our ability to multitask?
i. Task similarity: Harder to multitask with similar tasks (e.g.
talking on phone while talking to someone in real life)
ii. Task difficulty: harder tasks need more focus
iii. Practice: well practiced activities become automatic tasks,
but harder activities are known as controlled tasks and
require us to control and focus our mind

Memory
158.

What is the information processing model?

i. model proposes our brains are similar to computers. We
get input from environment, process it, and output
decisions. Doesnt describe where things happen in the
brain.
ii. INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT (bottom-up/stimulus
driven model)

159.
The information-processing model assumes (serial/parallel)
processing?
i. Serial, but the brain has parallel processing capacities
160.
What is the sensory register?
i. Where you first interact with information in your
environment. Temporary register of all information your
senses youre taking in.
161.
What are the two components of sensory memory (register)?
i. You have iconic (memory for what you see, lasts half a
second) and echoic (what you hear, lasts 3-4 seconds)
memory. Defined by time.
162.
What is the partial report technique?
i. Report one part of a whole field in cued recall. The partial
report condition required participants to identify a subset
of the characters from the visual display using cued recall.
The cue was a tone which sounded at various time
intervals (~50 ms) following the offset of the stimulus. The
frequency of the tone (high, medium, or low) indicated
which set of characters within the display were to be
reported. Due to the fact that participants did not know
which row would be cued for recall, performance in the
partial report condition can be regarded as a random
sample of an observer's memory for the entire display. This
type of sampling revealed that immediately after stimulus
offset, participants could recall most letters (9 out of 12
letters) in a given row suggesting that 75% of the entire
visual display was accessible to memory
163.
What is the whole report technique?
i. The whole report condition required participants to recall
as many elements from the original display in their proper
spatial locations as possible. Participants were typically
able to recall three to five characters from the twelve
character display (~35%).[1] This suggests that whole
report is limited by a memory system with a capacity of
four-to-five items.

164.

165.

166.

167.

168.

What is working memory?

i. Working memory is memory that is stored while it is held in
attention.
What is the capacity of working memory?
i. 7 +/- 2 pieces of info at a time (why besides area code,
phone numbers are 7 digits long)
What are the processing components of working memory?
i. Visuo-spatial sketchpad: Visual + spatial info are processed
here
ii. Phonological loop: verbal info (any words + numbers in
both iconic and echoic memory) is processed. Ex.
Repeating a phone # to yourself. The phonological store
capacity is approximately 2 seconds
What is the purpose of the central executive?
i. The central executive tells the visuo-spacial sketchpad +
phonological loop to coordinate. The Central Executive
supervises the cognitive process of memory.
ii. E.g. processing a map with street names and landmarks
(visual + verbal info)
What is the episodic buffer?
i. acts as a connecter for processed information to be stored
in long-term memory.

169.
170.

171.
172.

173.

What is the dual coding hypothesis?

i. says its easier to remember words associated with images
than either one alone. E.g. method of loci
What is the operation span test?
i. A task in which subjects are asked to perform a simple
mathematical verification (e.g., 4/2 +1 = 3) and then read
a word, with a recall test following some number of those
verify/read pairs. The maximum number of words that can
be recalled is the "operation span".
What are the two components of long-term memory?
i. Explicit (declarative) and implicit (non-declarative)
What is explicit memory and what are its components?
i. facts/events you can clearly/consciously describe.
ii. 1st component: Semantic- remembering simple facts like
meanings of words.
iii. 2nd component: episodic memory (event-related
memorieslike your last birthday party
What is implicit memory and what is contained within it?
i. Implicit/non-declarative memory is a type of unconscious
memory in which previous experiences aid the
performance of a task without conscious awareness of
these previous experiences. Thus, you may not be able to
articulate this memory.
ii. All memories formed by conditioning are implicit
memories.

174.
175.

176.

177.

178.

179.

180.
181.

182.

iii. Procedural memory is long-term memory for actions or

habits such as how to kick a ball or washing hands before
eating. Procedural memory is type of implicit memory.
Where is implicit memory stored?
i. Basal ganglia
What is priming?
i. Priming is an implicit memory effect in which exposure to
one stimulus (i.e., perceptual pattern) subconsciously
influences the response to another stimulus.
What is negative priming?
i. an implicit memory effect in which prior exposure to a
stimulus unfavorably influences the response to the same
stimulus. Caused by experiencing the stimulus, and then
ignoring it. Negative priming lowers the speed to slower
than un-primed levels
What is positive priming?
i. A positive prime speeds up processing. caused by simply
experiencing the stimulus. Positive priming is thought to be
caused by spreading activation. This means that the first
stimulus activates parts of a particular representation
or association in memory just before carrying out an action
or task. The representation is already partially activated
when the second stimulus is encountered, so less
additional activation is needed for one to become
consciously aware of it.
What is autobiographical memory?
i. Autobiographical memory is a memory system consisting
of episodes recollected from an individual's life, based on a
combination of episodic and semantic memory.
What is encoding and why is it important for long term memory?
i. Encoding is transferring information from the temporary
store in working memory into permanent store in long-term
memory. If you want to remember more than 7 things,
need to process that info so it stays in long-term memory.
What is encoding specificity?
i. Enhanced memory when testing takes place under the
same conditions as learning.
What does successful retrieval of memory rely on?
i. retrieval depends on being able to use cues around you
and to recognize the association between cues present at
encoding and cues present at retrieval. Best types of cues
are the associations that form when you are actually
encoding.
What are state-dependent cues?

183.

184.

i. your state at the moment you encode. When you are in a

certain mood when you encode you can then remember it
when you are in the same mood.
ii. Mood can be a cue for state dependent memory Like if you
are sad/angry it can lead to remembering other times you
were sad/angry. This can lead to thinks like depression
because those feeling down are more likely to think of
other reasons to be down. Converse is true as well, when
you are happier you are more likely to think of other times
you were happy (or are likely to interpret other events in a
positive light).
Rank the types of retrieval from easiest to hardest?
i. Recognition: simply recognize the inputs youve seen
ii. Cued recall: recall clues help to help retrieve information
from long term memory
iii. Free recall: no cues in recalling. Better recalling first items
on a list (primacy effect) as well as last few (recency
effect). Harder to remember things in the middle of a list.
Recency effect is not as strong if there is an interpretation
after list is called. This curve is called the serial position
curve/effect: the overall tendency to recall first few items
well, last few items well, and middle items not so great.

What are schemas and how do they affect memory?

i. Sometimes information we retrieve is based on a schema
(mental blueprint containing common aspects of world),
instead of reality.
185.
How does false/misleading information affect recollection of an
event?
i. Can lead to inaccurate recollections of an event due to
false/misleading retrieval cues, which can even be
false/misleading changes in words/phrases
186.
What is an error in source monitoring?
i. When people recall information they often forget the
informations source an error in source monitoring.
Associated with false memories
187.
What is source amnesia?

188.

i. the inability to remember where, when or how previously

learned information has been acquired, while retaining the
factual knowledge.
What is the valence with regards to a memory?
i. The valence is the positive/negative emotion surrounding a
memory.
ii. Extreme valence can lead to a flashbulb memory

Long-Term Potentiation and Synaptic Plasticity

189.
190.

191.

192.

193.

How does the brains structure change to store memories?

i. Brain doesnt grow new cells to store memories
connections between neurons strengthen.
What is long-term potentiation?
i. With repeated stimulation, the same pre-synaptic neuron
stimulation (Pre-synaptic neurons release
neurotransmitters on post-synaptic neurons, allowing Na+
and Ca2+ to flow in) converts into greater post-synaptic
neuron potential (The greater the postsynaptic potential,
the more ion channels will open in the neuron) stronger
synapse, and when it lasts long time it is called long-term
potentiation. This is how learning occurs!
What is neural plasticity?
i. also called brain plasticity, is the process in which your
brain's neural synapses and pathways are altered as an
effect of environmental, behavioral, and neural changes.
What is decay?
i. When we dont encode something well or dont retrieve it
for a while, we cant recall it anymore. One theory is that
the pathway between cue and memory become weaker
over time or periods of disuse which makes it harder to
stimulate those neurons.
What are savings?
i. The foundation that is more easily and quickly recalled
when relearning information is called savings.

Aging and Cognitive Abilities

194.
195.
196.

What
i.
What
i.

cognitive abilities stay stable during aging?

Implicit memory and recognition memory
cognitive abilities improve during aging?
Crystallized IQ (experience), emotional reasoning
(wisdom), and semantic memories until 60 years
What cognitive abilities decline during aging?
i. Recall, episodic memory formation (old memories are
stable), processing speed, divided attention (multitasking),

and prospective memory (remembering things to do in

future)

Alzheimers Disease and Korsakoff Syndrome

197.

What is the most common form of dementia?

i. Alzheimers Disease, which is a progressive brain disorder
that affects different aspects of memory over time.
Neurons die off over time and as neurons die off, cerebral
cortex shrinks in size. They initially have trouble with short
term memory, which eventually progresses into problems
with long-term memory (like episodic, procedural, and
semantic memory loss).
198.
What is a theory of the causation of Alzheimers Disease?
i. Buildup of beta amyloid plaques in brain.
199.
What is the cause of Korsakoffs syndrome?
i. caused by lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine. Caused by
malnutrition, eating disorders, and especially alcoholism.
200.
What is the importance of thiamine?
i. converts carbohydrates into glucose cells need for energy.
Important for normal functioning of neurons.
201.
What is the precursor to Korsakoffs and what are its symptoms?
i. Wernickes encephalopathy- damage to certain areas
causes poor balance, abnormal eye movements, mild
confusion, and/or memory loss.
202.
If untreated, Wernickes will progress to Korsakoffs with what
symptoms?
i. severe memory loss, accompanied by confabulation
(patients make up stories, sometimes to fill in memories).
ii. Individuals with Korsakoff syndrome have problem forming
new memories and recalling old memories (anterograde
and retrograde amnesia respectively)
203.
Can Korsakoffs get better, unlike AD?
i. Korsakoff isnt progressive and can get better. Treatment
typically includes thiamine injections, staying on a healthy
diet, abstain from alcohol, take vitamins, and relearn
things.
204.
Amnesia is usually due to brain injury in what part of the brain?
i. Medial temporal lobe

Semantic Networks and Spreading Activation

205.

206.

What are semantic networks?

i. Concepts are organized in your mind as connected ideas.
For closely related ideas, they might be closer and longer
for less closely related ideas.
What is the hierarchical semantic theory?

207.

208.
209.

i. First semantic network theory suggested that we stored

information in a hierarchical way. It was thought concepts
were organized from higher order categories to lower order
categories. We store information at the highest category
possible. Broad categories/characteristics are stored at
higher level nodes.
ii. Longer the distance between nodes or more notes in
between = longer it takes to verify the connection.
What is the modified semantic network theory?
i. every individual semantic network develops based on
experience and knowledge. Some links might be
shorter/longer for different individuals and there may be
direct links for higher order categories to exemplars.
What is spreading activation?
i. Says all ideas in your brain are connected together. Pulling
up one memory pulls up others as well.
The relative strength of the node link determines/reflects
i. the amount of activation emitted to a network or a specific
node (exposure)

Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development

210.

211.

212.

Describe Stage 1:
i. 0-2 years old Sensorimotor Stage: children gather
information about the world via sense. Main
task/awareness develops is object permanence: objects
exist even if they cant see them.
Describe Stage 2:
i. 2-6/7 years old (approx.) Preoperational stage - When
children are going to develop/engage in pretend play. Start
to use symbols to represent things. Also, very egocentric
only concerned about themselves, no empathy (they dont
understand that other people have a different point of view
than they do) (ex. A child might not understand that sitting
in front of you while you watch TV will prevent you from
seeing TV, since they can see). Stage of I cant see you,
you cant see me
Describe Stage 3:
i. 7-11 years Concrete operational Learn idea of
conservation.
ii. Also begin to learn empathy; begin reasoning of math
skills.
iii. The concrete operational stage describes children who are
able to grasp concrete (real) events logically, conversion,
and reversibility(refers to the ability to recognize that

213.

numbers or objects can be changed and returned to their

original condition.
Describe Stage 4:
i. 12+ years old - Formal operational stage reason abstract
consequences, and reason consequences; moral reasoning.
At this point children are reasoning more like adults and
they continue to develop that overtime.
ii. In the formal operational stage, a child will be able to think
logically about abstract ideas, hypothetical situations, and
use abstract thinking to solve novel problems.

Problem-Solving/Decision-making
214.

What does it mean to let a problem incubate?

i. We ponder the problem for some time waiting for an
insight (epiphany)
215.
What is the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 errors in
solving a problem?
i. Type 1: false positive (accepting a false hypothesis as
correct)
ii. Type 2: false negative (accepting a true hypothesis as
incorrect)
216.
What is a conjunction fallacy?
i. The conjunction fallacy is faulty reasoning inferring that a
conjunction is more probable, or likely, than just one of its
conjuncts.
ii. In fact, a situation with just one conjunct, or condition, is
more probable than a situation with two conditions. To
further illustrate, if A and B are two different events, then
the probability of just A occurring is more likely than A AND
B occurring. Can be caused by using a representative
heuristic.
217.
What is the anchoring and adjustment heuristic?
i. requires a person to create a set point or anchor. The
answer is adjusted based on comparing new information to
the anchor
218.
What is the multiple approach-avoidance theory?
i. describes the internal mental debate (sometimes called a
conflict) that weighs the pros and cons of differing
situations that have both good and bad elements.
ii. Approach-approach conflicts: two options are both
appealing.
iii. Avoidant-avoidant conflicts: both options are unappealing
iv. An approach-avoidance conflict: when one option has both
positive and negative aspects.

v. Double approach-avoidant conflicts consist of two options

with both appealing and negative characteristics, which
seemed to represent a jurys dilemma.

Intelligence
219.

Describes Robert Sternbergs Triarchic Theory of Intelligence?

i. 3 types of intelligences analytical intelligence (Academic
abilities to solve well defined problems), creative
intelligence (ability to adapt to new situations and
generate novel ideas and adapt) and practical intelligence
(solve ill-defined problems, such as how to get a bookcase
up a curvy staircase
ii. Higher intelligence doesnt equal= better marriages,
greater physical/mental wellbeing, raise their kids better
220.
Describe Cattells Fluid/Crystallized intelligence model?
i. Fluid Intelligence - is ability to reason quickly and
abstractly, such as when solving novel logic problems.
ii. Crystallized intelligence refers to accumulated knowledge
and verbal skills.
221.
What was Lewis Termans (psychologist at Stanford) contribution
to Alfred Binets test?
i. Termans test incorporated teenagers and adults, which
Binets didnt do, but it still wasnt applicable to all cultures
due to a language ability test for immigrants
ii. Hence it was called the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test
222.
What do twin studies teach us about nature vs. nurture with
regards to intelligence?
i. What we know is of 3 groups, strongest correlation
between IQ scores in identical twins raised in same homes.
Raised apart not as high correlation (there is some
environmental component). Fraternal twins raised together
show lower correlation, suggesting also a genetic
component.
223.
What was Galtons idea of hereditary genius
i. human ability is hereditary
224.
What was Binets idea of mental age
i. how a child at a specific age performs intellectually
compared to average intellectual performance for that
physical age in years.
225.
What was Guilfords theory of convergent intelligence?
i. was proposed by Guilford to describe IQ test related
intelligence, such as puzzles, vocabulary words, and
arithmetic.

Language
226.
227.

228.
229.

230.

Where is language located in the brain for most individuals?

i. 90% of people- left hemisphere
What is global aphasia?
i. global aphasia is often the result of damage to a large
portion of the left hemisphere. This person will have
difficulty producing speech, understanding speech, and will
likely be unable to read or write.
What is anomia?
i. a form of aphasia identified by the inability to name
everyday objects.
What is agraphia?
i. a form of aphasia characterized by the loss of the ability to
form graphemes, which causes a loss in the ability to
communicate via writing.
What is Brocas/non-fluent aphasia?
i. Brocas aphasia is characterized by apraxia, a disorder of motor planning,
which causes problems producing speech.

231.

What is Wernickes/fluent/receptive aphasia?

i. characterized by difficulty understanding spoken words and sentences, as

well as difficulty producing sentences that make sense.

232.
What connects Wernickes and Brocas area and what happens when this is
damaged?

i. arcuate fasciculus: When this is damaged, conduction

aphasia (also called associative aphasia) ability to
conduct between listening and speaking is disrupted.
Makes it difficult for people with this to repeat things even
when they understand what is being said.
233.
What is Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT)?
i. This method of therapy uses musical elements, including
melody and rhythm, to improve expressive language by
capitalizing on preserved singing abilities and possibly
engaging language-capable regions in the undamaged
right hemisphere. MIT works best with non-fluent forms of
aphasia.
234.
What can happen if the corpus callosum is severed but
the hemispheres alone work fine?
i. Could visually process objects in left visual field, but may
not be able to name it (anomia/anomic aphasia) because
right hemisphere (which processes left visual field) cant
communicate with left hemisphere (where language is
usually processed)
235.
What is prosody and where in the brain is it located?
i. Contributes to linguistic functions such as intonation, tone, stress, and
rhythm. Located on right hemisphere

Theories of Language and Cognition

236.

What do universalists believe with regards to language?

i. thought determines language completely. human cognition
shapes language and language is created from a set of universal semantic
distinctions and constructions

237.

238.

239.

What did Piaget believe about language development?

i. He believed once children were able to think a certain
way, they then developed language to describe those
thoughts influences build it. Language influence is
influenced by cognitive development.
What did Vygotsky believe about language development?
i. language and thought are both independent, but
converge through development. Eventually learn to use
them at same time via socialization - Believed children
developed language through social interaction with adults
who already knew the language. Through the interaction,
they learnt to connect the thoughts and the language they
eventually learn
What is weak linguistic determinism (relativism)?
i. language influences thought. It makes it easier/more
common for us to think in certain ways based on how our
language is structured.

240.
What is strong linguistic determinism (Sapir-Whorfian
hypothesis)?
i. Language determines thought completely. People
understand their world through language, and language in
turn shapes how we experience the world.

Theories of Language Development: Nativist, Learning,

Interactionist
241.
What is the nativist (innate/biological) perspective of language
development?
i. . Thought humans had a language acquisition device
(LAD) that allowed them to learn language.
ii. Goes along with idea theres a critical period (also
called sensitive period), thought to be from birth to age
8-9, the period of time a child is most able to learn a
language. After that, becomes harder because LAD only
operates in that critical period. Once you start using it, LAD
starts specializing for your language and unable to detect
others.
iii. Associated with Noam Chomsky
iv. Investigates Transformationalist Grammar: refers to the
different ways that words can be arranged to convey the same information.

242.

What is learning (behaviorist) theory of language development?

i. children arent born with anything; they only acquire
language through operant conditioning
ii. doesnt explain how they can produce words theyve never
heard before or unique sentences.
iii. Associated with BF Skinner.

243.
What is the social interactionist approach to language
development?
i. Believe biological and social factors have to interact in
order for children to learn language. Childrens desire to
communicate with others such as adults in their life,
makes them motivated to learn language.
ii. Associated with Vygotsky.

Language Components
244.

What is lexical access?

i. Lexical access refers to identifying a word and connecting it to its meaning,
which has been stored in long-term memory.

245.
246.

What is the difference between a phenome and a morpheme?

i. phenomes (smallest unit of sound) vs morphemes
(smallest significant unit of meaning of a word)
What are linguistic pragmatics?
i. Dependences of language on context and pre-existing
knowledge.

Limbic System
247.
248.
249.

What
i.
What
i.
What
i.

are the main structures of the limbic system?

Hypothalamus, Amygdala, Thalamus, and Hippocampus.
is the one sense that bypasses the thalamus?
Smell (goes to areas closer to amygdala)
is the amygdala?
The amygdalae are golf ball shaped groups of nuclei
located within the temporal lobes of the brain. They serve
to assist in the processing of memory, decision-making,
and emotional reactions, namely produces anger/violence
and fear/anxiety.

250.

What happens when the amygdala is damaged?

i. If destroyed, mellowing effect
ii. Kluver-Bucy syndrome bilateral destruction
(destruction of both) of amygdala can result in hyperorality
(put things in mouth a lot), hypersexuality, and disinhibited
behaviour. These are all drunken behaviours, so it is
treated like such.
251.
What is the purpose of the hippocampus?
i. Convert STM (Short term memory) LTM (long term
memory)
252.
What happens when the hippocampus is damaged?
i. If destroyed, still have old memories intact, just cant make
new ones (anterograde amnesia).
253.
What is the executive control function of the prefrontal cortex?
i. solve problems, make decisions, how you act in social
situations.
254.
How does one know if an action is automatic, according to Posner
and Snyder?
i. Posner and Snyder described an action as automatic if the
action did not affect other mental activities.
255.

Components of Emotion and Universal Emotions

256.

257.

What are the three components of emotion?

i. Physiological components when surprised heart rate
might increase, muscles tense, temperature increase.
ii. Cognitive vary person to person, theyre mental
assessments that can include appraisal of what is
happening, thoughts and expectations about the situation.
Cognitive experiences result from emotions, and can cause
emotions
iii. Behavioral emotions produce different behavioral
responses evident from body language or facial expression.
Expressions vary by individual and interpreted differently
culture to culture.
What initial 6 universal emotions did Paul Ekman find?
i. happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger and surprise

Theories of Emotion
258.

259.

What is the James-Lange theory of emotion?

i. Experience of emotion is due to perception of physiological
responses.
ii. Event Physiological Response (PR) Interpretation of PR
Emotion
What is the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion?

i. Event Physiological Response + Emotion at same time.

260.
What is the Schachter-Singer theory of emotion?
i. physiological and cognitive responses simultaneously form
experience of emotion. If we become physiologically
aroused, we dont feel a specific emotion until were able
to label/ identify reason for situation.
ii. Event PR + Identify reason for the situation (PR)
(consciously) Emotion
261.
What it is the Lazarus theory of emotion?
i. experience of emotion depends on how the situation is
cognitively appraised (labelled).
ii. If we label emotion as good, it is positive
iii. If we label emotion as bad, it is negative
iv. Event Label the event (appraisal) emotion + PR based
on appraisal.
262.
What is the Yerkes-Dodson Law?
i. People perform best when they are moderately aroused
the Yerkes-Dodson Law, a bell shaped curve.
ii. Moderate emotions, like mild fear, are associated with
optimal memory recall.
263.
What is the Russell/Barrett conceptual act model of emotion?
i. Basic emotions arent biological but emerge from two more
fundamental entities: core affect and categorization
ii. Core affect (such as pleasure, tension, or energy) can exist
in isolation or as a component of moods and emotions.
Event Label as Core effect Emotion + Physiological
response
264.
What is the dimensional approach to contemporary study of
emotion?
i. emotions are measured in terms of dimensions such as
arousal (high/low) and valence (positive/negative)
265.
What is the discrete system approach to contemporary study of
emotion?
i. includes theories regarding universal emotions

Stress
266.

Describe Richard Lazarus Appraisal Theory of Stress?

a. stress arises less from physical events but more from the
assessment/interpretation of those stresses/events
b. Two Stages:
i. Primary appraisal: assessing stress in present situation,
with 3 categories of response:
1. Irrelevant I see the stress but its not important.

2. Benign/Positive Ex: a dinosaur takes out the dog

the rabbits enemy
3. Stressful/Negative the stressor is actually
threatening. Ex. Rabbit having to run away from the
dog.
ii. If negative, then move on to secondary appraisal:
1. Harm: what damage has already been caused
2. Threat: How much damage could be caused
3. Challenge: How can the situation be overcome or
conquered.

Responding to Stress
267.
268.

269.

270.

Who studied and termed the flight or flight response?

i. Walter Cannon (of Bard fame)
What is the endocrine response to stress?
i. Adrenal medulla release catecholamines
(adrenaline/noradrenaline), which are tyrosine derivatives
developed from ectoderm
ii. Adrenal cortex released cortisol: steroid hormone
redistributes glucose energy in body and suppressing
immune system. Developed by endoderm
What is the tend and befriend response?
i. sometimes better response to stress is to have support
systems.
ii. Oxytocin is important for this peer bonding and
moderates the stress response.
iii. Oxytocin is strongly linked to estrogen (a major sex
hormone in women), so why this response is stronger in
women.
Describe Hans Selyes General Adaptation Syndrome?
i. Alarm phase stress reaction kicks in, heart races,
resources mobilized Ready for fight or flight
ii. Resistance fleeing, huddling, temperature elevated, BP
high, breathing rate high, body bathed in cortisol.
iii. Exhaustion if resistance isnt followed by recovery, our
bodys stress resources are depleted, our tissues become
damaged and our dampened immunity can make us
susceptible to illness. Negative impact of long term stress.

Physical effects of stress

271.

What are damaging effects of stress on our heart?

i. Increased B.P, B.V distention, so they build up more muscle
and become more rigid. Can lead to hypertension (HBP)
and vascular disease (disease of blood vessels get
damaged with higher force of blood movement). Spots

272.

273.

What
i.

ii.
What
i.
ii.

274.

What
i.
ii.

attract fat and narrow blood vessels. Worst place to

experience this is coronary arteries coronary artery
disease.
are damaging effects of stress on metabolism?
During stress, body secretes cortisol and glucagon, which
converts glycogen to glucose. Glucose increases in our
blood which remains floating around in blood vessels (we
dont need all this extra glucose, which can exacerbate
metabolic conditions like diabetes).
Too much blood sugar can also cause heart disease
are damaging effects of stress on reproduction?
In women - FSH/LH and then estrogen/progesterone can be
inhibited which reduce reproductive abilities
Impotence /erectile dysfunction also often caused by stress
because your blood vessels are being constricted (less
blood flow to penis) and allows more blood to remain in
core (stress is most common cause of impotence in US)
are damaging effects of stress on immune function?
Causes inflammation acute stress can lead to overuse of
immune system. Can attack our own body. Good example
is arthritis (joint become overly inflamed)
Chronic stress: stop activating immune system response
and it suppresses you. Doesnt make you sick, but makes
you more susceptible to illness.

Behavioral Effects of Stress

275.

276.

277.

What 2 areas of brain have most cortisol receptors?

i. hippocampus and frontal cortex (impulse control,
reasoning, judgment, planning)
ii. see atrophy in these areas due to stress
How does anhedonia cause depression?
i. inability to experience pleasure, so perceive more
stressors, which leads to depression
ii. Biological backing: The anterior cingulate (anterior part
of the frontal cortex) stops responding to serotonin.
iii. Learned helplessness you learn from having control
ripped out of hands that you dont have control, so lose
ability to identify coping mechanisms, which becomes a
cycle
What is low-effort coping?
i. refers to the coping responses of minority groups in an attempt to fit into the
dominant culture. For example, minority students at school may learn to put
in only minimal effort as they believe they are being discriminated against by
the dominant culture.

Biological Basis of Behavior: Nervous System

278.
279.
280.
281.

What does the forebrain develop into?

i. Cerebrum
What does the midbrain develop into?
i. Midbrain
What does the hindbrain develop into?
i. Pons/medulla/cerebellum
How many total pairs of nerves make up the PNS?
i. 12 cranial + 31 spinal = 43 total pairs
ii. includes nerves and ganglia, afferent and efferent neurons

Motor Unit
282.

283.
284.

Type of
Mechanorecep
tor

Location in
Skin

What are lower motor neurons (LMNs)?

i. efferent neurons of the PNS that synapse to control skeletal
muscle at a neuromuscular junction. Skeletal muscle cells
it contacts is the other end of the motor unit.
What can abnormalities in LMNs cause?
i. lower motor neuron signs (LMN signs), which can
happen in addition to weakness.
What are some signs of lower LMN signs?
i. atrophy of skeletal muscle,
ii. fasciculations (involuntary twitches of skeletal muscle)
iii. hypotonia (decrease in tone of skeletal muscle how
much muscle is contracted when person is relaxed)
iv. hyporeflexia (decreased muscle stretch reflex)

Hairy/Non
Hairy Skin

Requires? (to
fire)

Sensation

Adaptation

MCM RP (man
crush Monday
role play)

Meissinheiners
Corpuscle

Merkel
Disk/Receptor

Ruffini
Endings/Corpu
scle/Cylinder
Pacinian
Corpuscle
(also called
Lamellar
Corpuscle)
Hair Follicle
Receptor

Acronym:
Superficial
Deep
MCM =
Papillary
dermis
R = Reticular
dermis
P=
subcutaneous
layer
Papillary
Dermis

Periphery
letters (MC
and P =
Changing
touch
required
Middle
letters = MR
= sustained
touch
required
Constantly
changing
stimuli
FAI

You feel touch, pressure,

stretch, and then a
vibration.

Light Touch, flutter, light

stretch, small receptive
field, grip control

velocity

Papillary
Dermis
(sometimes
stratum
Basale)
Reticular
dermis

Sustained
stimuli/const
ant
SAI

Light Touch, pressure, fine

details, small receptive
field

Velocity and
displacemen
t

Sustained
stimuli/const
ant
SAII

Displacemen
t

Hypodermis

Constantly
changing
stimuli
FA II

Deep stretch (acronym: R

= Role = playing a role
requires stretching your
imagination). , large
receptive field
Vibration deep
Push/Poke (acronym:
Phone vibrates)
Hair movement/light touch

Displacemen
t

Reticular
dermis

Acronym:
MC (Man
Crush=
Meiseinheim
ers
Corpuscle =
man
crushed of
hair
Non hairy
skin

Hairy skin

Constantly
changing

acceleration

*Equivalent to
Meiseinhhime
rs corpuscle in
a sense for
hairy skin)

285.

Is touch fast or slow in terms of its neurons?

i. Touch is both. Fine touch travels in fast neurons, less
precise info travels in slower ones.
286.
Why are mechanoreceptors faster than noci/thermo receptors?
i. tend to have large diameter and thick myelin sheath;
therefore, they conduct fast. Noci and thermo have small
and have thin myelin or no myelin->slow.
287.
What are the two general pathway that somatosensory
information travels?
i. Position sense, vibration sense, and fine touch
ii. Pain, temperature, gross touch
288.
Why does injury in one side of brain often result in damage to the
other side?

i. because Spinal cord carries info to the brain in one of the

tracts, which then crosses to the other side immediately
before going to cerebrum.

Muscle Stretch Reflex

289.

What are the two parts of a reflex?

i. Afferent (receptors detects stimulus) and efferent
(response)
290.
What is the muscle stretch reflex?
i. causes a muscle to contract after its stretched, as a
protective response
ii. e.g. knee-jerk response at a doctors appointment
iii. Somatosensory neurons (afferent) in muscle spindles
form excitatory synapse in spinal cord with another neuron
in the spinal cord, which sends axon out back to same
muscle that was stretched, and excite skeletal muscle cells
to contract lower motor neurons (efferent).
iv. Muscle on underside of leg are inhibited when the topside
of leg is excited. Necessary for reflex to occur.
291.
What cells are controlled by the autonomic nervous
system, the efferent neurons in the PNS?
i. smooth muscle cells, cardiac muscle, and gland cells
292.
Give an overview of the sympathetic NS response?
i. starts middle of spinal cord short axon synapses with
short ganglia close to spine second neuron goes to the
target cell (smooth, cardiac, gland cells) with long axon
synapses
293.
Give overview of parasympathetic NS response?
i. starts at the brain stem or bottom of spinal cord 1st
neuron sends long axon synapse with ganglion of second
neuron sends short axon to target cell
294.
What is spike time dependent plasticity (STDP)?
i. Under the STDP process, if an input spike to a neuron
tends, on average, to occur immediately before that
neuron's output spike, then that particular input is made
somewhat stronger. If an input spike tends, on average, to
occur immediately after an output spike, then that
particular input is made somewhat weaker hence: "spiketiming-dependent plasticity". Thus, inputs that might be
the cause of the post-synaptic neuron's excitation are
made even more likely to contribute in the future, whereas
inputs that are not the cause of the post-synaptic spike are
made less likely to contribute in the future.

Grey and White Matter

295.
296.

What is gray and white matter?

i. Gray- Neuron somas
ii. White- myelinated axons
Where are gray and white matter in the brain?
i. White on inside and grey on outside. Axons go down tracts
of white matter

Upper Motor Neurons (UMNs)

297.
298.

299.

Where are UMNs found and what is their function?

i. UMNs control the LMNs. Found in the cerebral cortex, and
synapse on LMNs in the brainstem or spinal cord.
What are the two tracts UMNs can take?
i. corticospinal tract: UMN starts in cerebral cortex, axon
travels down through brainstem, and where it meets the
spinal cord most of these axons cross and travel down
other side until they reach LMN.
ii. corticobulbar tract: If it goes to brainstem only
What are upper motor signs?
i. Hyperreflexia increase in the muscle stretch reflexes.
Cause is unclear, but when muscle spindle receptors are
activated, without periodic stimulation of LMNs by UMNs,
they become hypersensitive and you get bigger reflex.
ii. Clonus rhythmic contractions of antagonist muscle. Ex.
Foot goes involuntarily up and down. Cause is hyperflexia,
because if doctor pulls on foot activates muscle stretch
reflex, so triggers antagonist muscles.
iii. Hypertonia increased tone of skeletal muscles. Increase
muscle tension, reduce muscle stretch.
iv. Extensor Plantar Response if you take a hard object
and scrape along bottom of foot, normal response is flexor
toes will come down on the object. But with extensor,
toes extend up.

Overview of the Functions of the Cerebral Cortex

300.

What are the functions of the frontal lobe?

i. motor cortex (body movements), prefrontal cortex
(executive function, surprise/direct other areas of brain),
Brocas area (speech production)
301.
What are the functions of the parietal lobe?
i. somatosensory cortex (touch/pressure/pain), spatial
manipulation (orient in 3D)
302.
What hemisphere is dominant for most people, and what are the
functions of the dominant hemisphere?

303.
side)?
304.

305.
306.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

307.
308.

i. language, math
What is the non-dominant hemispheres function (usually right
i. Emotion, creativity, big picture concepts
What structures make up the old brain?
i. Brainstem (includes medulla, pons, reticular formation, and
midbrain)
ii. Thalamus
iii. Cerebellum
What is the cerebellums function?
i. Coordinates voluntary movement and balance
What is the brainstems function?
Connects all parts of the brain
i. 12 pairs of cranial nerves are attached here
Midbrain- important functions in motor movement, particularly
movements of the eye, and in auditory and visual processing
Pons- involved in the control of breathing, waking/relaxing,
communication between top and bottom parts of brain
Medulla- autonomic activity of heart and lungs
Reticular formation: a diffuse network of nerve pathways in the
brainstem connecting the spinal cord, cerebrum, and cerebellum,
and mediating the overall level of consciousness.
i. Long tracts collections of axons connecting cerebrum
and brainstem. 2 long tracts that are important: motor
(UMNs), and somatosensory.
What is the internal capsule of the inner cerebrum?
i. contains many important pathways, including the
corticospinal tract
What is the basal ganglia?
a group of structures linked to the thalamus in the base of
the brain that dont have UMNs but are involved in
coordination of movement

Neurotransmitter (NT) Anatomy

309.

310.
311.

What
i.
ii.
iii.
What
i.
What
i.

is glutamate?
most common excitatory neurotransmitter
Glutamate is associated with increased cortical arousal.
Sent by reticular formation to cerebral cortex
are the most common inhibitory NTs?
GABA (brain) and Glycine (spinal cord)
is GABAs function?
GABA is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS. It
plays the principal role in reducing neuronal excitability
throughout the nervous system and is found in decreased
levels in patients with anxiety disorders.

312.
What
regulation?
i.
313.
What
i.
ii.

are the 3 main monoamines associated with mood

norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine

is acetylcholine?
released by frontal lobe
sent to LMNs and the autonomic nervous system
(parasympathetic specifically)
iii. acetylcholine functions in the peripheral nervous system
and central nervous system both as an activator and
inhibitor. In the peripheral nervous system, it causes
skeletal muscles to contract. In the central nervous system,
it inhibits the activation of the cholinergic system.
iv. Acetylcholine plays an important role in the signal of
muscle movement, sensation of pain, learning and memory
formation, the regulation of the endocrine system and
rapid eye movement (REM) sleeps cycles.
314.
What is histamine?
i. Sent by hypothalamus to cerebral cortex
ii. Immune response
315.
What are the two main neurotransmitters of the peripheral
nervous system?
i. Acetylcholine and epinephrine
316.
What are the 4 major dopamine pathways?

317.

What are the types of NTs?

Ablation methods
318.

What
i.
What
i.

is surgical aspiration?
sucking out brain tissue
319.
are radiofrequency lesions?
used to destroy tissue on surface of brain and deep inside
brain. Wire is inserted into brain to determine the area.
Then pass high frequency current that heats up and
destroys tissue. Can vary current intensity/duration to
change size, but destroys everything in the area (cell
bodies and axons). You cant tell if this area was
responsible for the behavior that is not responding, or just
has an axon passing through.
320.
What are neurochemical lesions?
a. MUCH MORE PRECISE METHOD. Excitotoxic lesions (excitotoxins
are chemicals that bind to glutamate receptors and cause influx
of calcium that causes so much excitement that it kills the
neuron/excites it to death)

i. One example is kainic acid. Destroys cell bodies but

doesnt influence axons passing by. Dont severe
connections like in knife cuts/radiofrequency lesions.
ii. Also oxidopamine (6-hydroxydopamine) selectively
destroys dopamine and NE neurons. Can model Parkinsons
Disease.
1. Oxidopamine is very similar to dopamine. In
reuptake, the presynaptic cell takes the oxiopamine
back for recycling (normal mechanism) but then this
neuron is destroyed. It destroys substantia niagra
neurons completely.
321.
What is cortical cooling (Cryogenic blockade)?
a. involves cooling down neurons until they stop firing.
i. Cryoloop surgically implanted between skull and brain.
Most important part is its temporary/reversible, unlike
other techniques. K/O nerves see effect, and then bring
the animal back to normal functioning.
322.
How are temporary lesions created?
i. via neurochemical means. Muscimol can bind to GABA
receptors and inhibit those neurons.

Ways of Studying the Brain

323.

Two main types of studying the brain?

i. Brain structure vs. brain function
324.
What are the two main tests for brain structure?
a. CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scans (CT scan). Xrays to create image of the brain (tumor/abnormal
swelling/bleedingbut it cant tell us anything about what areas
of the brain are active in a given time) .
i. CT scans are a computerized composite of X-ray images that are
slightly lower resolution than MRI and are not as good for soft
tissue but are faster than MRIs. Sometimes CT scans are combined
with a radioactive dye (like a PET scan) to show structure and
activity imposed in one image.

b. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)- This method uses radio

waves and they are exposed to a magnetic field. The radio waves
are then added to the magnetic field and disrupts orientation of
atoms. As atoms move back to alignment with magnetic field
they release signals and those are used to create image. This
also doesnt tell us anything about brain function either.
325.
What are main tests that study brain function?
i. EEG (Electroencephalogram) external, cant tell us
about activity of individual/groups of neurons. Can only
look at sum total. Can tell us about seizures, sleep stage,
cognitive tasks. Not invasive! We dont get a picture of a

brain from this method, but we get an EEG. Easier set up

than MEG.
ii. MEG (Megnetoencephalogram) (aka SQUIDS Superconducting quantum interference device) better resolution
than EEG, but more rare because requires a large machine
and special room to shield it. Records the magnetic fields
produced by electric currents in the brain. Measured by
using SQUIDS. (acronym: MEGa SQUIDS are invasive)
326.
What tests can be used to study brain structure and function
simultaneously?
i. fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) same
image from MRI but can look at which structures are
active! Neurons that are active require oxygen. Measuring
relative amounts of oxygenated vs deoxygenated blood in
the brain we can figure out what brain areas are being
used for a certain task. fMRI is more popular.
ii. PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans cant give
us detail of structure, but can combine them with CAT
scans and MRIs. Inject glucose into cells and see what
areas of brain are more active at given point in time.
(Active cells = use most glucose). More invasive. (acronym:
PETs like glucose). Three-dimensional images of tracer concentration
within the body are then constructed by computer analysis. PET require
swallowing a radioactive tracer and shows activity, with low
resolution.

327.
Such brain scanners produce maps of the scanned area that are
represented with units called
i. Voxels. Each voxel typically represents the activity of a
particular coordinate in three-dimensional space. The exact
size of a voxel will vary depending on the technology used.

Endocrine System and Its Influence on Behavior

328.

329.

What are three forms of hormones?

i. Protein/polypeptide: Small large (100)
ii. Steroid: from cholesterol (lipid not charged and can pass
freely thru mem)
iii. Tyrosine derivative: from tyrosine. Thyroid hormones and
catecholamines (epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine
(noradrenaline), and dopamine)
Match the endocrine glands to their secretions?
i. Anterior Pituitary: (FSH, LH, ACTH, TSH, Prolactin,
Endorphins, GH)
1. GH - The pituitary gland triggers the growth spurt that occurs during
adolescence.

ii. Posterior Pituitary: ADH + Oxytocin

iii. (Intermediate Lobe) Pars Intermedia MSH (Melanocyte

stimulating hormone)
b. Thyroid: regulate body metabolism. T3/T4, calcitonin
i. The thyroid gland affects the growth and development of the brain, and
regulates growth rates.

c. Parathyroid: 4 spots back of thyroid. Parathyroid hormone

increases blood calcium levels by stimulating
osteoclasts/decreasing calcium in urine.
d. Adrenal glands: on top of kidney (adjacent to kidney): ACTH acts
on adrenal cortex (glucocortisteroids cortisol that affect fluid
volume/stress response) and medulla (catecholamine hormones)
i. The adrenal gland plays a supportive role in development of muscle and
bones.

e. Gonads - ovaries (females) testes (male). FSH/LH stimulation

releases sex hormones (progesterones/estrogen (females) and
testosterone (male)
i. The testes are involved with male sexual development during adolescence.
f. Pancreas regulates blood sugar. Not tied to pituitary gland.
330.
What direction does human baby development occur?
i. Head to toe, can lift head before can crawl
331.
What are some common neonatal reflexes, which disappear as
the baby ages?
i. Babinski Reflex how baby will turn/unturn toes when
bottom of the foot. Disappears before 12 months. (fans
toes outwards).
ii. Monro reflex startle reaction. Fan out arms then back.
Disappears in 4-6 month of age.
iii. Tonic Neck Reflex (aka fencing posture) how when a
babys head is turned, the arm on that side straightens
while the arm on the side that is opposite bends.
Disappears at 6 months of age.
iv. Galant reflex: when Skin is stroked, baby moves/swings to
the side it was stroked. Disappears at 6 months.
332.
Do females have any positive social effects from puberty?
i. No, only negative: teasing, sexual harassment. Out of
synch with friends in interests
333.
Why do teenagers have poor judgment?
i. Their prefrontal cortex is still developing until the early
20s.
334.
What are the specific cranial changes that occur in the limbic
system during adolescence?
i. Amygdala responsible for emotions/emotional responses.
Explains why teenagers are moody and have emotional
outbursts (yelling at parents, slamming door)
ii. Hypothalamus regulates endocrine system (hormones)

iii. Limbic system also includes other structures, but these top
two are important.
335.
What global changes (changes throughout the brain as a whole)
occur during adolescence?
i. Increase myelination (faster communication of neuronsfaster connections b/t brain areas)
ii. Increase in brain volume in early adolescence and then
decrease later in adolescence.
iii. Synaptic pruning breaking down connections between
certain neurons. Focus resources on the ones we use the
most. What we do during our teenage users shapes us for
life. What we spend our time doing = what is reinforced.

Temperament, Heredity, and Genes

336.
What is the difference between Mendelian monogenic and
polygenic inheritance with regards to traits and environmental
interaction?
i. Mendelian monogenic inheritance patterns refer to traits
that are associated with a single gene and are associated
with simple traits while polygenic inheritance patterns are
associated with complex traits (behavior characteristics)
and multiple genes that can be active/inactive.
ii. Simple traits interact minimally with the environment,
whereas complex traits are more impacted by
environmental influences (environment plays a role in
activation/deactivation)
337.
What is temperament, when is it established, and how long does
it persist?
i. Its their characteristic emotional reactivity, intensity, their shyness and their sociability. Temperament seems to
be established before babies are exposed to environment.
Persistent as person ages.
1. Personality is also believed to be constant
338.
What is the difference between temperament and personality?
i. temperament refers to a set of innate or inborn traits that
organize a child's approach to the world, while personality
is what arises within the individual.
ii. Personality, which stays constant all through a person's
life, consists of certain characteristic patterns like
thoughts, feelings and behavior.
iii. Since it is naturally occurring, temperament cannot be
taught or learned but, despite this fact, it can be nurtured
as one grows.
339.
What are the 4 major temperaments?
i. Psychologists conclude that people can be categorized into
four basic types of temperament: sanguine, choleric,

melancholy and phlegmatic. Two of the basic temperament

types are more introverted or inward-directed and the
other two are extroverted or outgoing.

Twin Studies and Adoption Studies

340.
What are the similarities and differences between monozygotic
and dizygotic twins?
a. Monozygotic Twins egg splits into 2 after fertilization. Share
100% of genes, genetically identical.
b. Dizygotic Twins develop from 2 separately fertilized eggs. Share
50% of genes, like regular siblings.
c. Both share same environment in womb, and also share same
parents. Both types of twins eat the same food at the same time.
So both can be said to share 100% environment.
341.
How do researchers use twins to identify cause of schizophrenia?
a. Goal of researchers is to isolate genes and the environments.
Look at one without the other to see what causes the disorder.
i. Monozygotic twins vs. dizygotic twins can hold
environment constant. Examine effect of genes.
1. If schizophrenia was genetic, we would expect to see
different rates in identical vs. fraternal twins. Higher
in identical twins.
2. But if environmental, similar rates of disorder in both
sets of twins. Wouldnt matter if they were identical
vs. fraternal. They share 100% of the environments.
342.
What is the problem with twin studies?
a. identical twins treated more similarly than fraternal twins are.
This would mean that monozygotic twins share even more of
same environments than fraternal twins.

Adoption Studies
343.

What are problem with twin studies?

i. incomplete info about biological families for adoptive
children.
ii. Also adoption isnt random, adoptive family sometimes
matched to be similar to the biological family (of having
the same community or culture).

Heritability
344.

What is heritability?
Heritability estimates define the amount of variance that
can be attributed to genes in specific subgroups of
individuals. Or, the relative contributions of genes to
behaviors or traits.

345.
What is the heritability in the following scenario: Four boys with a
100% controlled environments, yet IQ still is different amongst the
boys.
a. Difference couldnt be attributed to environment, so wed say
their IQ differences were 100% heritable because environment
was 100% same.
346.
What situations increase heritability?
a. As environments becomes more controlled, differences in
behavioral traits are tied to heritability. Secondly, more genetic
variation leads to greater heritability.
347.
What did the Minnesota twin study find?
i. Religiosity in monozygotic twins has a coefficient of
correlation value of 0.49 based on the Minnesota twin
studies reared apart data.

ii. Personality in monozygotic twins has a coefficient of

correlation value of 0.50 based on the Minnesota twin
studies reared apart data.
iii. Information processing speed in monozygotic twins has a
coefficient of correlation value of 0.56 based on the
Minnesota twin studies reared apart data.
iv. Intelligence in monozygotic twins has a coefficient of
correlation value of 0.69 based on the Minnesota twin
studies reared apart data.

Regulatory Genes
348.
What do modern studies say about the role of the central dogma
of molecular genetics with regards to behavior?
a. Now, studies are saying that the genes dont play as large of a
role.
i. Example. Steroids (environmental factors)/hormones effect
our behavior by producing different responses in our body
by the activation of genes to produce proteins.
Pheromones do the same thing; they are
environmental/outside factors that cause a response
(turning on genes) that result in a function. This is a switch
from central dogma a bit (which is DNA RNA proteins)
to now a bit of the reverse in which environmental factors
are now affecting our proteins.
349.
How has complete gene mapping of our entire genome changed
how we study traits?
i. We can now look at populations that share traits and not
have to rely on twin/adoption studies to narrow down
heritability of traits. Now, we can look at population of
shared traits and look at genes that code for those traits
and compare/contrast those genes.
ii. We can also look at damage to DNA in a persons genome
and the effects such damage causes.
350.
How many our genes dont code for proteins themselves but
rather regulate gene expression?
i. 95% dont code for proteins, but rather regulate how
proteins are coded (when and how they are expressed).
ii. [Ex. If we experience sugar consumption, then we code for
the protein hormone insulin].
351.
What are epigenetics?
i. Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression that
results in something other than changes to a DNA
sequence. One epigenetic change is methylation, which
can make it more difficult for a gene to be expressed.

Gene-Environment Interaction
352.
What is the difference between a study on epigenetics and a
study on the gene-environment interaction?
i. A study that looks at the interaction between genetic
predisposition and environmental events is looking at
gene-environment interaction, not epigenetics.
353.
How is phenylketonuria (PKU) an example of G-E interaction?
i. A genetic condition that causes a build-up of phenylalanine
which then cause brain problems.
ii. Symptoms of PKU can be managed by a specific diet, which
is a less problematic environment for the individual with
PKU.
1. During infant screening, placed on these effected
individuals placed on phenylalanine-free diet, and
most grow up without major problems.

Adaptive Value of Behavioral Traits

354.

What is the function of behavior?

i. to keep homeostasis
355.
What is ethology?
356.
focuses on the observation of overt animal behaviors (not
necessarily obvious, just means observable)
i. Innate behavior, learned behavior, and complex behaviors.
357.
What is an innate behavioral trait and what are its
characteristics?
i. genetically programmed behavior. present at birth and
requires no experience with the environment. Have the
following characteristics:
ii. Inherited innate behaviors are encoded by DNA
iii. Intrinsic present even if youre raised in isolation. Ex.
Pooping, peeing, etc.
iv. Stereotypic performed the same way each time.
v. Inflexible not modifiable by experience.
vi. Consummate fully developed right away, at first
performance. Not influenced by experience.
358.
How can innate behaviors be changed in a population?
i. Subject to change through mutation and recombination,
natural selection, etc. (just like all other physical traits)
359.
What are the 3 main types of innate behavior?
i. Reflexes - Sensory and motor nerve loop response w/o
thinking. (e.g. knee-jerk response)

ii. Orientation Behaviors regulated with regard to

environment
1. Ex. Kinesis, our change in speed (orthokinesis),
change in rate in turning (klinokinesis). Can be in
response to a stimulus (like tripping on a sidewalk
your body would change speed/kinesis).
2. Ex. Positive taxis and Negative taxis: movement
towards/away from stimulus, respectively. Ex. Insects
and light. Insects have positive taxis towards light
(phototaxis)
iii. Fixed-action pattern (FAP) sequence of coordinated
movement performed without interruption. Similar to a
reflex, but more complicated. Ex. Praying mantis. Any preysized movement praying mantis experiences elicits a strike
response, once strike initiated cant be changed/altered
at all.
360.

361.

What is a learned behavioral trait?

i. persistent changes in our behavior that result from our
experiences. Not present at birth, but is acquired after
experience with the environment. Have the following
characteristics:
1. Non-inherited acquired only through
observation/experience
2. Extrinsic absent when animals are raised in
isolation, ex. social skills
3. Permutable pattern/sequence that is changeable
4. Adaptable capable of being modified in response to
changing conditions
5. Progressive subject to improvement or refined
through practice over time
What is a complex behavioral trait?
i. combination of innate and learned behavior. Relationship
between genes and environment in adaptation. Can be a
spectrum, most behaviors fit between innate and learned.
1. Ex. ability of insects to fly, starts off as innate but
through learning become more efficient in ability to
fly.

Instincts, Arousal, Needs, Drives: Drive-Reduction and

Cognitive Theories
362.
363.

What action does the id use to realize its pleasure principle?

i. Primary Processes (Forming a mental image of the desired
object)
What process does the ego use with regards to the id?

364.
365.

i. Operates on secondary processes. (Reality testing)

Mediates the demands of reality vs. the desires of the Id.
What is the acronym for Maslows hierarchy of needs?
i. Please Stop Liking Stupid Stuff
How is incentive theory different from drive-reduction theory?
i. Incentive theory focuses on Positive reinforcement is
done through continuous positive stimulation. A positive
reinforce is given after a response to increase the
response. You need to be constantly given positive
reinforces.
ii. A negative reinforcement - removal of a stimuli to
encourage a response would, is not what incentive theory
is focused on. (this was drive-reduction theory)

Biological and Sociocultural Factors Food, Sex, and

Drugs
366.
What are Biological and Sociocultural Factors that affect food
intake?
a. Biologically
i. Lateral Hypothalamus-In normal conditions, LH sends
positive signal to us to start eating.)
ii. Ventromedial Hypothalamus- when functioning properly, it
signals to us to stop eating. Leptin present in high amounts
in blood when full (appetite suppressing hormone)
iii. Another hormone is insulin. Brain can detect level of insulin
to see amount of sugar and fat stored in blood. Too much
insulin = lots of sugar/fat store.
iv. Metabolism rate. In dieting we get a slowdown in
metabolism. Makes it easier for people to gain weight when
resuming normal eating.
v. Genetic predisposition to our weight, - set point influenced
by parents.
b. Socio-culturally: We Eat for different occasions, time, desire,
appeal, availability
367.
What is Neuropeptide Y?
i. The main effect of NPY is to promote increased food intake
and decreased physical activity in response to a
plummeting blood sugar level. In addition to increasing
food intake, it increases the percentage of calories stored
as fat and blocks pain receptor signals to the brain (cue
emotional eating).
368.
What are Biological and Sociocultural Factors that affect sexual
response?
a. Biological (found by Masters and Johnson)

i. Sexual response cycle.

1. First part of cycle is excitement phase, marked by
increased heart rate, muscle tension, BP, etc.
2. Second is plateau.
3. Then 3rd - orgasm.
4. 4th is resolution/refractory period.
5. M&J also noted sexual drive/activity was related to
testosterone for women and men (sexual activities
increased testosterone which in turn increased the
sex drive).
ii. Also have genetic predisposition to sexuality, and found by
looking this by studying at homosexuality.
iii. Hormones:
1. Prolactin is related to sexual gratification and is
associated with relieving sexual arousal after an
orgasm.
2. Endorphins produce feelings of euphoria and
pleasure, and are released post-orgasm.
3. Oxytocin is released after an orgasm to facilitate
bonds and feelings of connectedness between sexual
partners
b. Socio-cultural factors:
i. Age
ii. cultural background (certain practices acceptable in certain
cultures but not others),
iii. stimulus (determined by how responsive we are to
visual/tactile stimuli)
iv. emotions (psychological influence), and desires (to
procreate or not).
369.
What are Biological and Sociocultural Factors that affect sexual
response?
a. Biological:
i. Genetic: family member or family history/genetic
predisposition then you have a higher chance of abusing
the drug.
ii. withdrawal and cravings
iii. biochemical factors imbalance in our brains
iv. Drugs like marijuana and heroin mimic neurotransmitters
of our brain. Cocaine causes the abnormal release of
natural NTs like dopamine affects our limbic system.
1. Dopamine overstimulates/activates our brain limbic
system (which controls movement, emotion,
motivation, pleasure). Why we perceive emotions
and mood altering properties of drugs. We become in
a state of euphoria total happiness.

2. If we continue to use a drug, we abuse the drug.

Reinforcing effect we want to constantly
stimulate the brain by using drugs.
b. Socio-culturally: curiosity, novelty of drug, rebel, poor control of
user, cope with stress, low self-esteem (remember: one of
Maslows Hierarchy of needs, right below self-actualization), relief
from fatigue, feel good, and more prevalent in areas of higher
poverty

Components of Attitude
370.
371.

What
i.
What
i.

is attitude?
A learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way
are the three component (ABD model) of attitude?
Affective (emotional) we may feel or have emotions
about a certain object, topic, subject.
ii. Behavioral - how we act or behave towards object/subject
iii. Cognitive component -form thoughts/beliefs, and have
knowledge about subject/topic that will influence and
shape our attitude (perhaps prior knowledge that will help
you shape attitude).
iv. Example: I love yoga because I get to meditate and I
believe it helps me relax so I will go to class each week.
I love yoga is emotional, I believe it helps me relax is
cognitive, and behavioral is I will go to class each week

Attitudes Influence Behavior 4 Theories

372.

What is the Theory of Planned Behavior?

i. Intentions + Implications: We consider the implications of
our actions before we decide on how to behave. The best
predictor of our behavior is the strength of these
intensions and implications.
ii. Intensions are based on 3 things:
1. Our attitudes towards a certain behavior (ex. I
like studying)
2. Subjective norms - what we think others think
about our behavior (ex. My friends think studying is a
waste of time)

iii.
373.

What
i.
ii.

374.

What
i.

375.

What
i.
ii.

376.

What

3. Perceived behavioral control (how easy/hard

we think it is to control our behavior) ex. I also have
to work 40 hours this week on top of studying.
In this example: Our attitude is positive, but our behavior
of studying is low!
is the Attitude to Behavior Process Model?
An event triggers our attitude (something that will
influence our perception of an object)
Then attitude + some outside knowledge (what regarded
as appropriate behavior) together determines behavior.
is the Prototype Willingness Model?
Behavior is a function of 6 things, the combination of which
influence our behavior. Our behavior is a function of.
1. 1. Past behavior
2. 2. Attitudes explained in Attitude to behavior
processing model above. Attitude behavior
3. 3. Subjective norms what others think about our
behavior
4. 4. Our intentions our behavior intentions
5. 5. Our willingness to engage in a specific type of
behavior
6. 6. models/prototyping a lot of our behavior is
carried out from prototyping/modelling.
is the Elaboration Likelihood Model for Persuasion?
More cognitive approach focuses on the why/how of
persuasion.
2 ways in which information is processed:
1. 1. Central Route of Persuasion: The degree of
attitude change depends on quality of the arguments
by the persuader. How much we are persuaded
depends on quality of persuasion. ARGUMENT/Words
are central!
2. Peripheral Route of Persuasion: looks at
superficial/expertise/non-verbal persuasion cues,
such as attractiveness/status of persuader. The
doctor himself is peripheral (he is the one delivering
the words!)
are Cialidinis 6 Key Principles of Influence?

a. Reciprocity People tend to return a favor, thus the

pervasiveness of free samples in marketing.
b. Commitment and Consistency If people commit, orally or in
writing, to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honor that

commitment because of establishing that idea or goal as being

congruent with their self-image.
c. Social Proof People will do things that they see other people are
doing.
d. Authority People will tend to obey authority figures, even if they
are asked to perform objectionable acts.
e. Liking People are easily persuaded by other people that they
like..
f. Scarcity Perceived scarcity will generate demand. For example,
saying offers are available for a "limited time only" encourages
sales.

377.

i. While conveying scarcity, in general, can influence others,

in the case of an opinion, the more people that agree, the
more likely others are to follow, so scarcity is not desirable.
What is the principle of aggregation?
i. Average behavior over time reflects effects of attitudes
more than a single behavior does.

Behavior Influences Attitude

378.
How can social pressures influence behavior and thus our
attitude?
i. People are more likely to be honest when social influences
are reduced (ex. secret ballot
ii. Strong social pressures can weaken attitudes to behavior
connection and can cause our attitudes to follow our
behavior.
379.
How does role-playing affect attitude?
i. First few days in a new role feel a bit strange/fake because
were trying to follow social quota in that role. We are
trying to fit the role and sound professional. But over time,
what feels like acting starts to feel like you.
1. Our behavior of playing this rule influences our
attitude overtime. What feels like acting starts to feel
like you and begins to fit your attitude!
2. E.g. Zimbardos prison experiment
380.
What is the justification of effort and how does it affect attitude?

i. justification of effort (people do something they dont want

to in order to justify effort they put into it, such as going to
med school after working so hard)
ii. Also known as sunk-cost fallacy

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

381.
What are the 4 things we might do to reduce dissonance?
(example used is of a smoker. Cognition 1: I smoke. Cognition 2:
Smoking causes cancer)
i. Modify our cognitions Change/alteration in the
cognition (thinking process) in a persons action/behavior
to reduce the discomfort a person has with that
attitude/behavior.
1. ex. smoker might say, I really dont smoke that
much. (went from I smoke to I really dont smoke
that much)
ii. 2. Trivialize make less important/make trivial, change
the importance of their cognition
1. ex. Smoker might say, evidence is weak that
smoking causes cancer.
iii. 3. Add adding more cognitions, to make contradictions
more comfortable.
1. ex. I exercise so much it doesnt matter (cognition 3).
You added another cognition to deal with cognitive
dissonance.
iv. 4. Deny denying the facts
1. ex. Smoker might say, there is no evidence that
smoking and cancer are not linked.

Situational Approach
382.

What is the Situational Approach to Behavior/Personality?

i. We are placed in new situations every day. These situations
affect our behavior. Under the branch of social psychology
ii. Can also be used to describe personality
383.
What are the three main parts of external attribution (looking at
the situation/environment and how it influences behavior; opposite of
fundamental attribution error)?
i. To determine the attribution of a behavior, one must
determine if the behavior:
ii. Consistency (does person usually behave this way),
iii. Distinctiveness (does person behave differently in
different situations), and
iv. Consensus (do others behave similarly in situation?).

1. If person behaves different in different situations

(distinctive) and others behave similarly in the same
situation (consensus) then we know the behavior is
due to the situation (external). Situation is effecting
behavior.
384.
If a person behaves consistently in all situations, then his
behavior can likely be correctly attributed to?
i. Their internal state (personality, attitude, etc.)

Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality / Behavior

385.
According to Freuds psychoanalytic theory, what are the 3 main
instinctual drives to human behavior?
i. Libido -natural energy source fuels energy of mind for
motivation for survival, growth, pleasure, etc.
ii. Thanos/Death Drive -drives aggressive behaviors fuelled
by unconscious wish to die or hurt oneself/others
iii. Eros/Life Drive- Like health, safety, sex. Comes with love,
cooperation, collaboration. Working with others to promote
your and others wellbeing
386.
What are the three parts of the mind according to Freud and
describe them?
i. Id at the bottom, its the unconscious part. It develops
after birth and demands immediate gratification.
ii. 2) Ego part of conscious and unconscious. Involved in our
perceptions, thoughts, and judgments, and seeks longterm gratification. Uses the reality principle: have to
play by the rules of the real world and might have to
compromise.
iii. 3) Superego develops around age of 4, and its our
moral conscience. Also part of conscious and unconscious
minds.
iv. Our libido impulses are what want to be gratified when
over-gratified or partially/not gratified at all, fixation occurs
at a certain stage. Face conflict/anxiety. Its a conflict
between these 3 mental structures ego, id, and superego.
Theyre all competing for demand, so in conflict.

Humanistic Theory of Personality / Behavior

387.

What is the focus of Carl Rogers Humanistic Theory?

i. Humanistic Theory focuses on the conscious and our
free will to act, and says people are inherently good,
and that we are self-motivated to improve (so we can
reach self-actualization).

388.
According to Carl Rogers, what are the characteristics of the
growth-promoting climate required to achieve Maslows idea of selfactualization?
i. Growth is nurtured by when individual is genuine. One has
to be open and revealing about themselves without fear of
being wrong.
ii. Second is growth is nurtured through acceptance
unconditional positive regard from others. This allows us to
live up to our ideal selves. Allows us to be open and learn
without fear of others looking at us differently if we do
something wrong.
389.
According to both Rogers and Maslow, what is the central feature
of our personality?
i. self-concept - achieved when we bring genuineness and
acceptance together to achieve growth-promoting climate.
390.
According to both Rogers and Maslow , what causes tension?
i. When theres discrepancy between conscious values and
unconscious true values leads to tension, must be resolved
(similar to dissonance)
391.
According to both Rogers and Maslow, What is the importance of
congruency?
i. congruency between self-concept and our actions allows
us to feel fulfilled.

Biological Theories of Personality and Behavior

392.

Such theories focus on either ______ or _______ instead of _______?

i. Brain or behavior instead of traits.
ii. our inherited genes to some degree leads to our traits,
which leads to our behaviour/personality.
393.
What is David Buss (UT Austin) Evolutionary psychology theory?
i. theorizes that males + females have different mating
strategies that influence costs associated with passing on
genes. Males can have many mates, females more
selective due to cost of pregnancy.
394.
What did Hans Eysenck believe controlled extroversion levels?
i. proposed extroversion level is based on differences in the
reticular formation (controls arousal and consciousness)
introverts are more aroused than extroverts so they seek
lower levels of stimulation.
395.
Describe Jeffrey Alan Grays Bio-psychological theory of
personality? (50 shades of Gray is based on punishment/rewards)
i. proposed personality is governed by the behavioral
inhibition (punishment/avoidance) and activation (reward)
system.

396.
How did C. Robert Cloninger link brain systems to personality?
(Clone the Brain)
i. linked personality to brain systems in
reward/motivation/punishment, such as low dopamine
correlating with higher impulsivity.
397.
What are some of the major traits that researchers found were
shared by monozygotic twins raised in different environments (which
shows that these similar traits have strong genetic components)?
i. Social potency trait the degree to which a person
assumes leadership roles and mastery of roles in social
situations. Common in twins reared separately.
ii. Traditionalism tendency to follow authority also shown to
be common in twins.
398.
What are some of the major traits that researchers found were
not shared by monozygotic twins raised in different environments
(which shows that these similar traits dont have strong genetic
components)?
i. achievement, closeness
399.
How is the dopamine-4 receptor gene one of the genes
associated with personality?
i. people with longer dopamine-4 receptor gene are more
likely to be thrill seekers.

Behaviorist Theory to Personality/Behavior

400.

What is the behaviorist thesis?

i. The behaviorist theory says personality is the result of
learned behavior patterns based on a persons
environment its deterministic, in that people begin as
blank states and the environment completely determines
their behavior/personalities. Environment BEHAVIOR
401.
Why is behaviorist theory opposite of psychoanalytic theory?
i. behaviorist theory focuses on observable and measurable
behavior, rather than mental/emotional like psychoanalytic
theory
402.
How do behaviorists explain personality development?
i. People have consistent behavior patterns because we have
specific response tendencies, but these can change, and
thats why our personality develops over our entire
lifespan.
403.
What connects the observable (behavioral) to mental approach
(psychoanalytic) approach?
i. The cognitive theory, a bridge between classic
behaviorism and other theories like psychoanalytic.
Because cognitive theory treats thinking as a behavior, and
has a lot in common with behavior theory (Albert Bandura
comb)

Trait Theory of Personality/Behavior

404.

405.

406.

407.

408.

409.

What is a personality trait, and how does it describe personality?

i. A personality trait is a stable predisposition towards a
certain behavior. Straightforward way to describe
personality puts it in patterns of behavior. Description
of traits instead of explaining them.
What is the difference between surface and source traits?
i. Surface traits are evident from a persons behavior, while
source traits are factors underlying human personality
(fewer and more abstract).
What are Gordon Allports 3 basic trait categories?
i. Cardinal traits are characteristics that direct most of
persons activities the dominant trait that influence all of
our behaviours, including secondary and central traits.
ii. Central trait - Less dominant than cardinal. ex. honesty,
sociability, shyness.
iii. Secondary trait preferences or attitude. Ex. love for
modern art, reluctance to eat meat.
Describe Hans Eysencks dimensions of personality theory?
i. Eysenck says we have 3 major dimensions of personality,
which encompass all traits we all possess, but the degrees
to which we individually express them are different. We all
express varying degress of neuroticism and extraversion,
but we all dont necessarily have psychoticism. These 3
are:
ii. extroversion (vs. introversion) degree of sociability
iii. neuroticism -emotional stability
iv. Psychoticism -degree to which reality is distorted.
1. We do not all necessarily have psychoticism.
What is the 5 factor model/Big 5 traits?
i. found in all people of all populations.
ii. Openness - independent vs. conforming, imagining vs.
practical),
iii. Conscientiousness - careful vs. careless, disciplined vs.
impulse, organized or not
iv. Extroversion talkative or quiet, fun loving or sober
v. Agreeableness - kind vs. cold, appreciative vs. unfriendly
vi. Neuroticism - stable vs. tense, calm vs anxious, secure
vs. insecure
vii. Use acronym CANOE
What is factor analysis?
i. Reduces variable and detects structure between variables.
We get a final classification of personality after the factor
analysis.

Social Cognitive Theory

410.

What is Social Cognitive Theory?

i. theory of behaviour change that emphasizes interactions
between people and their environment. Unlike
behaviourism (where environment controls us entirely),
cognition is also important.
411.
What is the learning-performance distinction?
i. learning a behavior and performing it are 2 different things.
Need a motivation
412.
According to Banduras Social Cognitive/Observational Learning
Theory, what is the process we take towards learning something and
acting upon it consistently?
i. Banduras Social Cognitive Theory - Attention,
Memory, Imitation, Motivation (Acronym: AM I
Motivated?)

Defense Mechanisms
413.

414.

415.
o
o
o
o
o

What are pathological defense mechanisms?

i. distort reality
1. Denial person pretends something hasnt
happened. Most important defense mechanism.
(acronym: PATHOLOGICAL liar)
What are immature defense mechanisms?
i. Projection throw your attributes to someone else like
accusing another person of being jealous when you are the
one being jealous.
1. Can cause projective identification that person
targeted with projection can starting believing,
feeling, having thoughts of the attributes that were
projected to them
ii. Passive aggression white girls
What are neurotic Defense Mechanisms?
Intellectualization taking intellectual aspects and detaching
to the emotional aspects of the situation. Separating emotion
from ideas
Rationalization making yourself believe you were not on fault
avoids blame to oneself. Can have false logic or false
reasoning.
Regression acting like a baby in some situations ex. throwing
temper tantrum, start whining.
Repression unconscious process where thoughts pushed down
to unconscious
Displacement person anger at someone but displaces it to
someone else (a safer target).

416.

What are mature defense mechanisms?

i. Humor expressing humor/jokes to be truthful and
alleviate feelings but make them socially acceptable.
ii. Sublimation channeling negative to positive energy. Ex.
Violent energy, instead of expressing violence you become
a boxer. Transform into socially acceptable behaviors.
iii. Suppression conscious thought get pushed to
unconscious but can access thoughts at a later time.
iv. Altruism in service of others we feel fulfilled and gain
pleasure/satisfaction.

Psychological Disorders
417.

418.
419.
420.

421.
422.

What is the difference between mood and affect?

i. Mood is not emotion, mood is more long term and not
necessarily related to events; it is a subjective experience.
Mood becomes affect (how mood is displayed to others person crying).
What is etiology?
i. the study of causation, or origination, of an abnormal
condition/disease
What are elimination disorders?
i. Elimination Disorders distress/disability from
urination/defecation at inappropriate times or places.
What is the diathesis stress model of abnormality?
i. The diathesis-stress model suggests that people have, to
different degrees, vulnerabilities or predispositions for
developing depression. In the language of this model,
these vulnerabilities are referred to as diatheses. Some
people may have more of these diatheses for developing
depression than other people. However, this model
suggests that having a propensity towards developing
depression alone is not enough to trigger the illness.
Instead, an individual's diathesis must interact with
stressful life events (of a social, psychological or biological
nature) in order to prompt the onset of the illness.
According to the model, the greater a person's diatheses
for depression, the less environmental stress will be
required to cause him or her to become depressed. Until
this critical amount of stress has been reached, people will
generally function normally, and their diatheses are
considered to be "latent" or hidden.
Schizophrenia is associated with high levels of
i. Dopamine. This is why Antipsychotic medicines reduce
dopamine.
What is schizophrenia prodrome?

i. period of time before schizophrenia before symptoms are

actually present.
ii. Deterioration in persons behavior and functioning. Some
of the signs of schizophrenia and one starts to go downhill.

Biological Basis of Schizophrenia

423.
Schizophrenia is associated (enlarged/shrunken) fluid-filled
regions of the brain?
i. Fluid filled regions have been enlarged because there is
less tissue of the brain.
424.
The frontal and temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex have been
seen to (increase/decrease in size)?
i. Cerebral cortex (layer that is outermost part of
cerebrum) seems to have decreased size, in frontal and
temporal lobes. These areas have to do with cognitive and
perceptual functions which are abnormal in schizophrenia.
425.
Describe how the mesocorticolimbic pathway is related to
schizophrenia?
i. Meso = midbrain where VTA (Ventrotangmental area).
Specifically, the soma of neurons that use dopamine are
located at VTA.
ii. cortico = cerebral cortex, axons project to frontal and
temporal lobe of cerebral cortex. (axons of the VTA neurons
project to other areas of the brain and release dopamine to
cerebrum areas).
iii. limbic = collection of structures inside of the brain
involved in emotions/motivations/etc.
iv. Often divided into mesocortical pathway (VTA to the frontal
lobe) and mesolimbic pathway (VTA to limbic structures)
426.
The mesolimbic pathway has been associated with (+/-)
symptoms of schizophrenia?
i. Positive effects
427.
The mesocortical pathway has been associated with (+/-)
symptoms of schizophrenia?
i. Negative effects
428.
What have been some purported causes of schizophrenia?
i. genes, physical stress during pregnancy (such as infection
during pregnancy), and psychosocial factors (negative
family interaction styles effect development of brain)

Biological Basis of Depression

429.

What are associated areas of abnormality?

i. the frontal lobe and limbic structures. Decreased

activity in frontal lobe and increased activity in limbic
structures. Show a role in regulation of emotions and
response to stress.
430.
What communication pathway is supposed to play a role when
there are abnormal hormones in the body?
i. Communication of frontal lobe, limbic system, and
hypothalamus may plays a role why there are abnormal
hormones in the body.
ii. Stress hormones affect most tissues of the body and the
brain (including hypothalamus, limbic system, and frontal
lobe)
1. Unclear which abnormalities of stress hormone are
causes and which are effects of the disease.
431.
In neural pathways that use certain NTs that are associated with
mental disorders, where are the somas located and where are the
projections located?
i. Collection of neurons have cell bodies in brain stem while
axons project into frontal lobe/limbic system
432.
What structure is associated with serotonin release, which one is
associated with norepinephrine, and which one is associated with
dopamine (raphe nuclei, locus coeruleus, VTA)?
i. One structure starts in the raphe nuclei of the brainstem
responsible for serotonin release.
ii. Another pathway starts in the locus coeruleus, which
sends long axons to cerebrum and releases
norepinephrine.
iii. Also the VTA sends long axons to different areas of
cerebrum, supplies dopamine.
433.
Medications that target what class of NTs often improve
symptoms?
i. Monoamines include adrenaline (epinephrine),
norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin
(involved in onset of darkness).
1. Catecholamine (Subclass) includes dopamine,
norepinephrine, and epinephrine (2 OH groups on
phenyl)
ii. Ex. monoamine oxidase inhibitors (increase amount of
monoamines in synapse)
434.
How does neuroplasticity abnormality connect with mental
disorder?
i. Another newer idea that abnormalities of neuroplasticity
- brain changes in response to experience- can cause
mental disorder.

435.

436.

437.

1. But unclear if neuroplasticity abnormalities is a

cause or effect.
2. Strength of information/efficiency of flow changes or
connections change. Aspects of neuroplasticity
appear to be abnormal in animals of major
depressive disorder.
What are somatic symptom disorders?
i. mental disorders manifesting in physical (somatic)
symptoms.
1. May or may not be able to explain what we see (the
physical condition). May or may not be related to a
physical condition
2. Must cause functional impairments
What are conversion disorders?
i. Must look like Neurological symptoms only like problems
with speech, swallowing, seizures, paralysis
1. individual Must exhibit at least one symptom of
altered voluntary motor or sensory function that
shows internal inconsistency, causes distress or
impairment, and cannot be explained by another
mental or medical disorder (DSM-5)
Difference between factitious/Munchausens and malingering?
i. Patients want to be sick. The patient will falsify or disease
their signs or symptoms to get a diagnosis/treatment. Ex.
They might injure themselves, falsify tests. This is often
called Munchausens syndrome. People do this to be in sick
roll (not for money)
1. Munchausens by proxy -when one person makes
another person look ill so medical
attention/treatment provided further for another
individual.
ii. Malingering is done for $$$

Sleep Wake disorder

438.
439.

440.

What
i.
What
i.

areas do sleep problems occur in?

brain, upper airways, or lung/chest walls
is Central Sleep Apnea?
central (brain is part of CNS)), sleep (at night), apnea
(effects airflow).
1. Looking for apnea without obstructions. Looking at
5+ apneas/hour during sleep.
2. Problem with the brains control system for ventilation
(that control brain for breathing)
What is Cheynes-Stroke breathing?

i. crescendo then decrescendo breathing followed by stop in

breathing. Normal breathing pattern is inhale/exhale
changes from a normal fixed pattern.
ii. Believed heart failure/stroke/renal failure is the cause.

441.

442.

What is obstructive sleep apnea?

i. when airways are obstructed. Soft tissues around our neck
can relax at night and potentially cause obstruction of
airflow for a short period of time. Gets worse as people get
older.
1. At nighttime, this causes snoring or gasping or
pauses in breathing.
2. At daytime, people are tired/sleepy and unrefreshed
3. Diagnosed by: Sleep study (a polysomnography) and
looking for 15+ apneas/hour (Apnea lack of
airflow).
What is hypoventilation disorder?
i. When we are not able to ventilate our lungs fully and
remove all CO2. Results in a buildup of CO2, and a
decrease in O2. Can occur due to medications that repress
respiratory functions (narcotic pain killers such as opioids)
or if there is a problem with the lungs or chest wall. A
common occurrence is due to obesity.
1. High CO2 can cause right sided heart failure
2. Low O2 effects all organs/tissues of bodies. Cognitive
impairment, heart problems (arrhythmias - abnormal
heart rhythms), and polycythemia (elevated RBC in
blood)

Biological Basis of Alzheimers disease

443.

What part of the brain often shrivels up in Alzheimers?

i. Its the cerebrum that often dramatically decreases in
size.
1. Starts in temporal lobes, important for memory.
ii. Later, atrophy spreads to parietal and frontal lobes
444.
What are three main abnormalities in Alzheimers under a
microscope?

i. loss of neurons, plaques (made of beta-amyloid. Occur

in spaces between cells, outside of neurons in abnormal
clumps), and tangles (neurofibrillary tangles, clumps of a
protein tau. Located inside neurons. Develop proteins
normally in the brain, but changed so its abnormal and
causes them to clump together).
445.
What is the nucleus basalis function and how is it affected by
Alzheimers?
i. often lost early in course of Alzheimers. Important for
cognitive functions send long axons to cerebral cortex
and through cerebrum, and release acetylcholine.
Contribute to cognitive functions of disease.
446.
What are some factors that are related with risk of AD?
i. Also genetic mutations, many involved in processing of
amyloid protein.
ii. Also ApoE4 involved in metabolism of fats is strongly
related to AD.
iii. Also, high blood pressure increases risk of disorder too.

Biological Basis of Parkinsons

447.

What is the function of the nigrostriatial pathway?

i. associated with motor planning and purposeful movement
448.
What section of the brain is associated with motor abnormalities
related to loss of dopaminergic neurons?
i. in brainstem, the substantia nigra (means black
substance, usually darker than surrounding black tissue in
normal patients) is less dark or not dark at all in
Parkinsons disease patients.
ii. Suggests only one type of neuron is involved. These
cells/neurons lost are ONLY dopaminergic neurons
iii. Substantia nigra is one part of the basal ganglia.
1. Receives info from many places in nervous system,
particularly the outermost layer of the cerebrum
(cerebral cortex).
2. Basal ganglia processes that info and sends it back to
areas of cerebral cortex to influence areas of activity
such as motor cortex.
iv. Substantia Niagra also projects to area of basal ganglia
called the striatum, and loss of Dopamine neurons
protecting from substantia niagra to the striatum causes
most of motor abnormalities of Parkinsons.
449.
What are lewy bodies?

abnormal structures inside Dopaminergic neurons of

Substantia Niagra. The Lewy bodies contain a protein
alpha synuclein, a normal protein present in brain cells
under normal conditions are clumped together in
Parkinsons disease. (research op: Do lewy bodies kill the
dopaminergic neurons? Or is something else killing these
dopaminergic neurons and the lewy bodies are formed in
the process?
450.
What is the difference between Lewy body disease and
Parkinsons?
i. less motor abnormalities from basal ganglia dysfunction
and more cognitive dysfunction from loss of function from
cerebral cortex.
451.
What is the difference between the two types of bipolar disorder?
i. when it remains hypomania + one major depressive
episode
ii. when hypomania becomes manic w/ or w/o major
depressive disorder
iii. An individual diagnosed with bipolar II has never
had a manic episode.
452.
Why is cyclothymic disorder?
i. hypomania + dysthymia (A mild but long-term form of
depression.

Social Psychology
453.
What is the difference between an normative and informative
influence?
i. Informative influence: look to group for guidance when
you dont know what to do and you assume the group is
correct.
ii. Normative influence: even if you know whats right, do
what groups negative actions to to avoid social rejection.
454.
What is social anomie?
i. breakdown of social bonds between an individual and
community. Means that there is a weakened sense of
morality and criteria for behavior.
ii. Without attachment to society, people will experience
purposelessness, and aimlessness. Periods of rapid social
change are often associated with anomie.
455.
What are the three types of conformity/obedience?
i. Compliance situations where we do behaviour to get a
reward or avoid punishment. Tendency to go along with
behaviour without questioning why. Compliance goes away
once rewards/punishments removed.

ii. Identification when people act/dress a certain way to be

like someone they respect. Will do this as long as they
maintain respect for that individual.
iii. Internalization idea/belief/behaviour has been
integrated into our own values. We conform to the belief
privately. Stronger than other types of conformity.
456.
What were some criticisms of the Asch conformity experiment?
i. All participants came from the same population (all male
undergrads from same culture) women, individuals from
minority groups, individuals from different cultures or age
ranges might have reacted differently
ii. Participants knew they were coming in for a study.
Participant were suspicions of the study. Perhaps
individuals would conform once just to see what would
happen.
iii. Ecological validity do the conditions of the study mimic
those of the real world. If they dont, we can only make
limited conclusions.
iv. Demand characteristics describes how participants
change behaviour to match expectations of experimenter.
Conformed because thats what experimenter wanted
them to do.
457.
What percent of individuals conformed in Aschs study, w/o any
pressure?
i. 75% of individuals conformed
458.
How many people delivered the 450V death shock in Milgrams
study?
i. 65% of participants shocked all the way
459.
What are factors that influence conformity and obedience?
i. Group size more likely to conform in groups of 3-5.
ii. Unanimity when opinions of group are unanimous
(everyone agrees). In the Ash experiment, there was one
supporter who answered correctly before the experimenter,
and full-compliance of experimenter dropped from 37% to
5%. Individuals claimed that the response of the supporter
influenced their response they said they didnt. Shows
that supporter shows reduced likelihood of conformity.
Were not aware of effects a defector can have (someone
who conform).
iii. Group status why children more likely to go along with
popular group. Why we trust four doctors over four
gardeners about our health.
iv. Group cohesion- if we feel no connection with group, feel
less of need to go along with that group.
v. Observed behaviour whether we believe our behaviour
is observed. In Ash experiment, when the participant came

in late, they said his response would be recorded on paper

and not shared with the group. If response in Asch line was
not shared with group, the experimenter was much less
likely to conform.
vi. Public response if we think were met with acceptance
vs. shunning. (happy to conform if we will be met with
shunning, but will happily not conform if we think we will
be met with acceptance)
vii. Internal factors
1. prior commitments (if we say something earlier
that goes against group, we will decrease conformity
because we are less likely to say something different
later. If we said something earlier that is along the
lines of the group, we will have increased conformity
because we will say the same thing now. We are not
likely to change what we say).
2. feelings of insecurity more likely to follow
judgements of others (conformity)
460.
what are factors of obedience?
i. Our closeness to authority giving orders- more likely to
accept orders from someone we respect
ii. Physical proximity more likely to comply with someone
we are close to. In Milgram when authority standing close
by/behind the experimenter (the teacher) they are more
likely to obey.
iii. Legitimacy of authority if wearing labcoat/carry a
clipboard we are more likely to obey. Shown in Milgram
study.
iv. Also institutional authority well-respected university.
Expectation that these places wont give you a harmful
command. Can also be physical or symbolic (ex.
police/government).
v. Victim distance in original Milgram study, teacher
couldnt see learner (victim). If could see participant,
reduced likelihood participant (teacher) would obey
experimenter. But still didnt stop everyone (30% of
participants gave all shocks)
vi. Depersonalization when leaner/victim is made to seem
less human through stereotypes/prejudices, people are less
likely to object against them
vii. Role models for defiance more likely to disobey orders
when we see others doing the same.
461.
How do mood, personality, culture, and socioeconomic status
affect conformity/obedience?
a. No one type of personality makes someone more susceptible to
authority.

b. But peoples moods can have an effect those with rough day
less likely to conform.
c. Status and culture can play a role, those of low socioeconomic
status (those with low power) are more likely to conform.
d. Also cultures like US/Europe (individualized cultures) that
emphasize individual achievement less likely to conform than
collective cultures (Asia, cultures that emphasize family/group).
462.
What is dominant response with regards to social facilitation?
i. Presence of others increases your arousal your general
physiological or psychological excitement and is known as
nervous energy.
ii. Increased energy/arousal increases likelihood of dominant
response occurring. Dominant response refers to response
most likely to occur
iii. Whether dominant response is correct or accurate depends
on how easy the task is, and how well youve learned
it/rehearsed it.
iv. Presence of others improves performance (helps) on
simple tasks, and hinders it on difficult
tasks/unpracticed tasks. (This is known as YerkesDodson Law).
1. Increased arousal occurs only when persons efforts
are evaluated.

463.

464.
465.

What is the Hawthorne effect?

i. The Hawthorne effect occurs when an individual participant
changes his or her behavior, specifically due the awareness
of being observed.
What is the most important agent of socialization?
i. Family
What is the hidden curriculum of socialization?
i. standard behaviors that are deemed acceptable that are
subtly taught by teachers.

Normative and Non-Normative Behavior

466.

How are norms reinforced?

a. Norms are reinforced by sanctions rewards/punishments for

behaviours in accord with or against norms respectively.
i. Positive sanction - a reward for conforming to norms.
ii. Negative sanction - a punishment for violating norms.
iii. Formal sanction - officially recognized and enforced.
iv. Informal sanction - unofficially recognized and does not
result in specific punishment.
467.
What are the 4 types of norms?
i. Folkways the mildest type of norm, just common
rules/manners we are supposed to follow on a day to day
base. Traditions individuals have followed for a long time,
ex. opening the door, helping a person whos dropped
item, or saying thank you. No actual punishment.
ii. Mores norms based on some moral value/belief
(dependent on groups values of right and wrong). Usually
a strong reaction if more is violated. Dont have serious
consequences.
iii. Laws norms still based on right and wrong, but have
formal/consistent consequences. There is a punishment for
the crime. There is not always outrage when a law is
violated depends on the law.
iv. Taboos behaviors completely forbidden/wrong in any
circumstance, and violation results in consequences far
more extreme than a more. Often punishable by law (with
serious legal consequences) and result in severe disgust by
members of community. Considered very immoral
behavior.

Deviance
468.

What is deviance?
i. When norm is violated, its referred to as deviance. Not
negative, just individuals behaving differently from what
society feels is normal. (e.g. vegetarianism)
469.
What is the Theory of Differential Association?
i. states that deviance is a learned behavior that results from
continuous exposure to others whom violate norms and
laws learn from observation of others. Rejects
norms/values and believes new behavior as norm.
470.
What is Labeling Theory?
i. a behavior is deviant if people have judged the behavior
and labelled it as deviant. Depends on whats acceptable in
that society.
471.
What are the two types of deviance according to Labeling
Theory?
i. Primary deviance no big consequences, reaction to
deviant behavior is very mild and does not affect persons

472.

self-esteem. Individual is able to continue to behaves in

same way without feeling immoral/wrong
ii. Secondary deviance more serious consequences,
characterized by severe negative reaction that produces a
stigmatizing label and results in more deviant behavior.
What is Strain Theory?
i. if person is blocked from attaining a culturally accepted
goal, may become frustrated/strained and turn to
deviance. The lack of equal opportunity results in increased
access to deviant means to achieve goal

Collective Behavior Aspects

473.

How is collective behavior different from norms?

i. norms and deviance and how changes in norms can occur
at the individual level.
ii. when large numbers of individuals rapidly behave in ways
that are not inline with societal norms called collective
behavior
474.
What is the difference between collective and group behavior?
i. First, collective behavior is time-limited, and involves short
social interactions, while groups stay together and
socialize for long period of time.
ii. Collectives can be open, while groups can be exclusive.
iii. Collectives have loose norms (which are murkily defined),
while groups have strongly held/well-defined norms.
475.
What are 3 types of collective behaviors?
a. Fad fleeting behavior is something that becomes incredibly
popular very quickly, but loses popular just as quickly. Not
necessarily in line with normal behavior. Perceived as
cool/interesting by large group of people.
b. Mass hysteria refers to behavior that occurs when groups react
emotionally or irrationally to real or perceived threats. It is
characterized by panic and spread of information (or
misinformation) by the media.
i. Ex: Mild-form of hysteria: Reaction due to news of severe
weather warnings. The result is fear/anxiety induced in
large #s of people and the fear causes people to become
crazed (rush to supermarket), drive erratically and become
irrational
ii. Mass psychogenic illness, or epidemic hysteria: Mass
hysteria can be a result of of psychology, like when large
amount of people believe they have same illness despite
lack of disease.
1. Ex. after anthrax attack in US, after reports there
were over 2000 false alarms. Individuals reported
false symptoms of anthrax infection and because

they believed they were exposed (which induced

false symptoms).
c. Riots characterized by large # of people who engage in
dangerous behavior, such as vandalism, violence, or other
crimes. Riots are very chaotic and cost cities millions in
damages.
i. A mob is a group of individuals who are emotional and
violent, but target specific individuals or categories of
individuals.
476.
Collective behavior is often driven by
i. Collective behavior is often driven by group dynamics, such
as deindividuation. Certain group dynamics can encourage
people to engage in acts they may consider wrong in
normal circumstances, which also occur in a collective.

Learning
477.

What are the two broad types of learning?

a. Non-associative learning when an organism is repeatedly
exposed to one type of stimulus
i. ex. habituation and sensitization. In habituation, person
tunes out the stimulus. Dishabituation occurs when
previously habituated stimulus is removed. Sensitization
is increase in responsiveness to a repeated stimulus.
b. Associative learning when one event is connected to
another, ex. classical and operant conditioning.
478.
What is aversive conditioning?
i. The process involves pairing a habit a person wishes to
break, such as smoking or bed-wetting, with an unpleasant
stimulus such as electric shock or nausea.
479.
What is systemic desensitization?
i. developed by Joseph Wolpe
ii. process that involves teaching the client to replace feelings
of anxiety with relaxation. Slowly introduce phobia to
patient. The goal is to get patient a to associate phobia
with relaxation techniques.
480.
What is implosive therapy, and how is it different than systemic
desensitization?
i.

Therapists force patient into an overwhelming encounter

with phobia, which produces a lot of anxiety

ii. the idea that if they face their fear and survive, they will
overcome their fear

481.

What is respondent conditioning?

i. Classical conditioning

482.

What is counterconditioning (stimulus substitution)?

i.

is a form of respondent conditioning that involves the

conditioning of an unwanted behavior or response to
a stimulus into a wanted behavior or response by the
association of positive actions with the stimulus.
1. One of the most widely used types of counter
conditioning is systematic desensitization.

483.

What is aversive conditioning?

484.

i. behavioral conditioning technique in which noxious stimuli

are associated with undesirable or unwanted behavior that
is to be modified or abolished.
What is a token economy?
i. reinforcers are tokens that can be exchanged for other
reinforcers (ex. Prizes).

485.

What is instinctual drift?

i. is the tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive
behaviors that interfere with a conditioned response.

486.

How does operant conditioning define the motivational state?

i. By depriving the subject of some desirable stimulus for a
period of time.

487.

In which types of conditioning does extinction occur?

i. In classical conditioning, this happens when a conditioned

stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned
stimulus.
ii. In operant conditioning, extinction can occur if the trained
behavior is no longer reinforced or if the type of
reinforcement used is no longer rewarding.
488.
What reinforcement are most resistant and most susceptible to
extinction, respectively?
i. Among the reinforcement schedules, variable-ratio is the
most resistant to extinction, while fixed-interval is the

489.
490.

easiest to extinguish.
What schedule yields the greatest response?
i. Variable ratio (e.g. gambling)
Describe the overall response pattern of each schedule?
i. Fixed-ratio schedules are those where a response is
reinforced only after a specified number of responses. This
schedule produces a high, steady rate of responding with
only a brief pause after the delivery of the reinforcer.
ii. Variable Ratio schedules occur when a response is
reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.
This schedule creates a high steady rate of responding.
iii. Fixed interval schedules are those where the first response
is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has
elapsed. This schedule causes high amounts of responding
near the end of the interval, but much slower responding
immediately after the delivery of the reinforcer.
iv. Variable interval schedules occur when a response is
rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has
passed. This schedule produces a slow, steady rate of
response.

491.
What is aversive control, and what type of conditioning does it
fall under?
i. situations where behavior is motivated by threat of
something unpleasant examples of negative
reinforcement in operant conditioning
492.
What are the 2 types of aversive control?
i. Escape conditioning occurs when the animal learns to
perform an operant to terminate an ongoing, aversive

stimulus. It is a "get me out of here" or "shut this off"

reaction, aimed at escape from pain or annoyance. The
behavior that produces escape is negatively
reinforced (reinforced by the elimination of the unpleasant
stimulus).
ii. Avoidance behaviors are incredibly persistent. This is
true even when there is no longer anything to avoid. The
reason is that an animal that performs an avoidance
reaction never experiences the aversive stimulus. But it
receives negative reinforcement in the form of relief.
Because of this, avoidance behavior is self-reinforcing.
Negative reinforcement.
493.
What types of reinforcement are drive-reduction and incentive?
i. Drive-reduction negative reinforcement
ii. Incentive positive reinforcement
494.
What is non-associative learning?
i. learning where no punishment/rewarding is occurring with
increase/decrease of response. a relatively permanent
change in the strength of response to a single stimulus due
to repeated exposure to that stimulus.
495.
What are the two forms of non-associative learning?
i. the same stimuli results is a decreased response with
episode of stimuli
ii. repeated administrations of a stimulus results in the
progressive amplification of a response.[1] Sensitization
often is characterized by an enhancement of response to a
whole class of stimuli in addition to the one that is
repeated. For example, repetition of a painful stimulus may
make one more responsive to a loud noise.
496.
Why are adaptive associations (those who have a biological
advantage) learned faster than learning with no biological value?
i. It used to be evolutionary advantageous to have the
adaptive value to avoid food that made you sick, spiders,
snakes, heights in the past so they are passed on.

Persuasion, Attitude Change, and the Elaboration

Likelihood Model
497.
What are the 3 main factors that impact how we are persuaded
for/against a message?
i. 1) Message characteristics message itself, clarity, was
it logical, how well thought message it. Also includes how
well written it was, does speaker have good grasp of
grammar, appropriate vocabulary, length of talk, etc.
ii. 2) Source characteristics the environment around the
message and the speakers background. What is their

level of expertise of speakers around us do they seem

knowledgeable, trustworthy, and is information credible or
not. Where does the information come from internet poll,
street poll, or a psych journal. Physical environment, venue
of event (campus or a bar).
iii. 3) Target characteristics characteristics of listener such
as mood, self-esteem, alertness, intelligence, etc. How we
receive a message.
498.
What is the elaboration likelihood model?
i. explains how attitudes are formed and likely they are to be
change. Determines when people will be influenced by the
content of a speech vs. more superficial features.
499.
What is the most important characteristic in this model?
i. The target characteristics are the most important in the
elaboration likelihood model
500.
According to elaboration likelihood model, we want to
evaluate information along what two possible paths? Describe them
and their 3 stages?
501.
: central and peripheral routes. After a route is chosen,
information is passed through three different stages. Stages:
a. Stage 1: Pre-Processing stage due to target characteristics:
before we can consider information or be persuaded by it, the
information is first filtered by interest, motivation, importance,
etc. of us (the listener).
i. Central Processing: If listener interest, motivation,
importance are high. People will only choose this route
when they are interested in the topic.
ii. Peripheral processing: If listener interest, motivation,
importance are low we process via the peripheral route.
Chosen when listener doesnt care about topic,
1. We Filter information before we can even process it.
b. Stage 2: Processing Stage by message/source:
i. Central Processing: Focus on a deep processing of the
information.
ii. Peripheral processing: Focus on superficial
characteristics (shallow processing of information) such
attractiveness of speaker, their PowerPoint attractiveness,
or even how many points the speaker made. How many
times speaker got audience to laugh, etc.
c. Stage 3: Change In attitude
i. Central Processing: creates a lasting attitude change
ii. Peripheral processing: creates a temporarily attitude
change

502.
What is reciprocal determinism with regards to the SocialCognitive Theory developed by Albert Bandura, of Bobo doll fame?
i. RD states that the interaction between a persons
behaviours, personal factors (motivation/cognition), and
environment are all determined by one another. view
behaviours as being influenced by peoples
traits/cognitions and their social context. Talking about
interactions between individual and situation theyre in.
503.
What is ego depletion?
a. idea that self-control is a limited resource. If you use a lot of it, it
can get used up, and less of it to use in the future which can
affect a later unrelated task that also requires self-control. This
is true because self-control requires lots of energy and focus.
i. Demonstrated by experiment that those who resisted
eating cookies ended up giving up sooner on another
unrelated task that also requires self-control than those
who didnt resist.
ii. Muscle is used as a metaphor for self-control. Can be
strengthened with practice, but can also be
fatigued/depleted with overuse.

Self Concept, Self Identity, and Social Identity

504.

What are the two parts of self-concept?

i. 1. Existential self is most basic part of self-concept, the
sense of being separate and distinct from
ii. 2. Categorical self - becoming aware that even though
were separate/distinct objects/beings, we also exist in the
world with others. And each of these objects/entities has
properties.
505.
What did Carl Rogers, of humanistic theory, believe about selfconcept?
i. believed self-concept had 3 different components.
1. Self-image: what we believe we are. The view we
have of ourselves.

2. Self-esteem/self-worth: how much value we place

on ourselves
3. Ideal-self: what we wish/aspire to be
4. When the ideal self and real self are similar, the
result is a positive self-concept. When the ideal self
does not match the real self, the result is
incongruity.
5. Explain actions through self-concept and
incongruence
506.
What are the 2 parts of social identity?
i. Personal Identity: things unique to each person like
personality traits
ii. Social Identity: includes the groups you belong too in our
community.
507.
What is the mental process involved in how we categorize
ourselves/use social-identity theory?
i. Step 1: All humans categorize ourselves and others
without really realizing it, part of human nature. Categorize
in order to understand objects/identify them ex. Categorize
to groups (which we belong to and those different) like
race (black, white)/job (student/accountant)/etc.
1. If we assign categories to others, we can make prejudgments about them.
ii. Step 2: Next is identification. When we adopt identity of
the group, we see/categorize us as belonging behaving
and acting like the category we belong to, ex. a student.
Emotional significance to identification - our self-esteem
starts to become bound with this group identification and
sense of belonging.
iii. Step 3: social comparison how we comparing
ourselves with other groups (or two different groups). We
do this to maintain our self-esteem. Critical to
understanding of prejudice, because once two groups
develop as rivals, we start to compete in order to maintain
self-esteem.
508.
What 4 factors determine if a person has a strong/weak sense of
self-efficacy?
i. 1. Mastery of experience strengthens self-efficacy
ii. 2. Social modeling seeing people similar to ourselves
complete the same task increases self-efficacy
iii. 3. Social persuasion when someone says something
positive to you, helps overcome self-doubt.
iv. 4. Psychological responses learning how to minimize
stress and control/elevate mood in difficult/challenging
situations can improve self-efficacy
509.
What is the difference between self-esteem and self-efficacy?

i. Self-esteem is the respect and regard one has for oneself

ii. Self-efficacy belief in ones abilities to succeed in a
situation / to organize and execute the courses of action
required in a particular situation. Developed by Bandura
due to his dissatisfaction with idea of self-esteem.
iii. A person with low self-esteem can have high self-efficacy,
and vice versa.
iv. Ex. a perfectionist can have low self-esteem (critical about
themselves) but high self-efficacy (still see themselves as
capable of doing tasks). Competent at tasks with clear
guidelines and lose confidence where there are no clear
rules.

Theories of Development
510.

Describe the 5 stages of Freuds development theory?

i. Oral stage age 0-1 yrs., libido is centered around babys
mouth and feeding. Because infant completely dependent
on parents/caretakers, baby also develops sense of trust
and comfort.
1. If fixation here, issues with dependency or
aggression. Also smoking or biting fingers/nails, suck
their thumb, people who overeat.
ii. Anal stage age 1-3, centered around anus, toilet
training. Leads to developing control/independence,
encouraging child to feel positive outcomes and helps child
feel capable and productive. Serve as basis for competent,
productive, creative adults.
1. If fixation occurs, have problems with orderliness and
messiness.
iii. Phallic stage age 3-6, children discover difference
between males and females. Oedipus complex and Electra
complex at this stage. Oedipus complex also develops
boys view fathers as rivals for mothers affection.
Describes feeling of wanting to possess the mother and
replace the father. Electra complex (by Carl-Jung) is the
equivalent for young girls to their fathers. Resoled through
process of identification, where child starts to understand
and develop similar characteristics as same-sex parent.
1. If fixation occurs, cause homosexuality/exhibitionism
iv. Latent period no focus of libido. A period of exploration,
libido present but directed into other areas such as
intellectual pursuits and social interactions. Important in
development of social and communication skills. Children
concerned with peer relationships, hobbies, and other
interests. Play is between same gender children.
1. Fixation doesnt develop into adult fixation.

v. Genital stage back on libido, because individual

develops strong sexual interests. Before this stage, focus
on individual needs. Now, focus on needs of others. No
adult fixation person is mentally healthy. Goal: establish
balance between various life areas (well balanced, warm,
caring)

511.

Describe Erik Eriksons 7 stages of development?

512.
According to Vygotsky, what 4 elementary functions do babies
have?
i. Attention, sensation, perception, and memory
(acronym: elementary mental babies have crAMPS)
513.
Where do most higher mental functions (learning and thinking)
come from according to Vygotsky?

i. Most develop from skillful tutor a model, ex.

parent/teacher/someone older. Tutor = model, and child
tries to understand instructions/actions provided by tutor
and they internalize it.
514.
What is the first requirement needed for Development to Higher
Mental Functions (Cognition) from Elementary Mental Functions (Social
Interactions)?
i. Requires cooperative and collaborative dialogue from a
MKO (more knowledgeable other) a person with a
better understanding than the learner. The interaction with
the learner + MKO Learning + Higher mental function
(Independence)
515.
What is the second requirement needed for Development to
Higher Mental Functions (Cognition) from Elementary Mental Functions
(Social Interactions)?
i. . Zone of proximal development part where most
sensitive instruction/guidance should be given. ZPD is the
link between the zone of cant do and can do. Allows
learner to use their skills they already have and expand
learning to things they cant do.
516.
What is the third requirement needed for Development to Higher
Mental Functions (Cognition) from Elementary Mental Functions (Social
Interactions)?
a. Language the main means by which adults transmit info to
children, and a powerful tool of intellectual adaptation. Ex.
private/internal speech, when people speak out loud to
themselves happens most in children. Way for children to plan
activities/strategies, and aids their development. Language is an
accelerator to thinking and understanding.
i. Those children who engage in lots of private speech are
more socially competent. Language develops from social
interactions for communication purposes. Language leads
to () thought (inner speech) - think for
ourselves/independence of executing skills.

517.
Describe the 3 levels/6 stages of Kohlbergs moral development
theory?

Social Influences
518.
What are social influences? How imitation, roles, reference
groups, and culture are all parts of social influence and how they affect
individual thoughts, actions and feelings.
519.
Describe Andrew Meltzoffs 1977 study on imitation and what we
learned from it?
a. In his experiment he suggested that babies are born with a
built-in capacity to imitate others.
i. A baby 12-21 days old, baby copies sticking tongue out.
Baby imitating experimenter.
ii. Suggests we are born with built-in capacity to imitate
others. Built in social mechanism which is critical for our
species to learn through others.
iii. Evidence suggests we have mirror neurons, when one
fires another fires when we observe same action
performed by other person. (Found in areas of brain that
are motor (parietal lobe), premotor cortex (frontal lobe),
and somatosensory cortex (parietal lobe). Can be
helpful in understanding Imitation further.
520.

What is a reference group?

i. Reference groups are groups that people refer to when
evaluating their [own] qualities, circumstances, attitudes,
values and behaviors. any group that individuals use as a
standard for evaluating themselves and their own
behavior. These reference groups set some level of
aspiration.

521.
Describe the differences between Charles Cooley and George H.
Meads theories in how others could play a significant role in how we
view ourselves?
i. Cooley thought everyone a person interacts with in a
lifetime influences their identity, Mead thought this was
more restricted only certain people can and only in
certain periods of life. Mead also thought that the way
others influence us changes across the lifespan.

George Herbert Mead: The I and the Me

522.

b.

c.

d.

e.

Describe Meads theory of social behaviorism?

i. the mind and self-emerge through the process of
communicating with others (beginning of symbolic
interactionism).
ii. Infants + children were not influenced by others in any
way, merely imitate others, and display egocentrism.
iii. As we grow up, our belief on how others perceive us is
more important, this happens through 3 stages:
preparatory, play stage, and game stage. These occur
overtime as a child grows.
1. Preparatory stage interaction through imitation, As they
grow older, focus more on communication with others instead of
simple imitation, and get practice using symbols
(gestures/words). Cant take perspective of others.
2. Play stage more aware of social relationships, reflected in
childrens tendency to pretend play as others like firefighters,
doctors, etc. Mentally assuming perspective of others and acting
based on their perceived point of view. Focused on role-taking:
mentally taking perspective of another person and acting on that
perceived viewpoint.
i. Way beyond imitation. They create social-interactions (not
just mimicking)
ii. Children consider attitudes, belief, and behaviors of
individuals closest to them.
3. Game stage Start to understand attitudes/beliefs/behavior
of generalized other (society as a whole). Children start to
realize that people perform in ways not only on what they
personally believe but what also in the ways society more
broadly expects of them and they understand that people can
take on multiple roles. Also realize others have opinions about
them and those perceptions others have are based on how they
act and what they say. They begin to be influenced by these
perceptions and are concerned by reactions of others to what
they do. But dont care about reactions of everyone, only
significant others (people with important relationships to
individual, ex. parents/teachers/close peers).
Believe this last stage led to development of the I and me.
i. Me = what we learn through interactions with others. How
individual believes the generalized other perceives us, the
social self, and learned through interactions with others.
Socialized and conforming aspect of self
ii. I = the response of the individual to the me. I is the
personal response to societys views, which is often
nonconforming. The spontaneous, less socialized component of the
Self.
iii. Our actual self is the balance between the I and the me.

iv. Me = societys view (thats me!), the part of self-formed in

interaction with others and social environment, and I =
individual identity stepping in and our personal responses
to what society thinks. The I is the spontaneous and
autonomous part of our unified self.

Charles Cooley Looking Glass Self

523.

Describe Charles Cooleys theory?

a. Socialization also shapes our self-image and self-concept, and
Charles Cooley used the term looking glass self to describe
this process idea that a persons sense of self develops from
interpersonal interactions with others.
b. Thought this happened in 3 steps
i. 1) How do I appear to others?
ii. 2) What must others think of me? (are we: shy, intelligent,
funny, or awkward)
iii. 3) Revise how we think about ourselves (based on correct
OR incorrect perceptions on others evaluations).
524.
What critical thing did Cooley believe about the last revision
step?
i. Critical aspect of this theory is Cooley believed we are not
actually being influenced by opinions of others, but what
we imagine the opinions of other people to be.
525.
How does symbolic interactionism tie in to the Looking-Glass Self
theory?
i. The looking glass self suggests that the self-concept is
more than the product of self-reflection. Instead, the way in
which people see themselves is based on how they believe
others perceive them during social interactions

Perception, Prejudice, and Bias

526.

Describe the 3 cues of Kelleys covariation model of attribution?

i. Ex. Take flaky friend, friend forever cancels on us.

Consistent behavior over time. High level of consistent
behavior over time, we are more likely related to them as a
person as opposed to the world working against them in
this situation.
1. When consistency is high = attribution to internal
factors
ii. Ex. Very nice friend Jim, but one day he gets so mad at the
pizza place. Out of character and distinctive. So much
more likely to be related to the environment.
Distinctiveness = situational.
1. Distinctiveness of a situation = attribution to
external factors
iii. Third factor in covariation model group lateness if you
arrive late at meeting but if you are with 20 other people
are late too, high degree of consensus. When a lot of
people demonstrate same behavior, we are more likely to
attribute behavior to situational cause.
1. Consensus of people = attribution of external factors
527.
What is the actor-observer bias?
i. Almost same thing as fundamental attribution error. We are
victims, but others are wilful actors.
528.
Describe how culture affects attribution?
i. In individualistic cultures (Western Europe/America),
success is over-attributed to internal and failure is overattributed to external/situational factors. the fundamental
attribution error occurs more in individualistic societies
who place an emphasis on individual achievement
ii. In collectivist cultures (Eastern Africa/Asia), success is
attributed to external and failure to internal factors
529.
What is self-serving bias? The common human tendency to
attribute one's successes to personal characteristics, and one's failures
to factors beyond one's control. The reason people tend to personalize
success is because it helps their self-esteem levels.
530.
What is optimism bias?
i. belief bad things happen to others, but not to us. (e.g. I
wont die by texting and driving)
531.
What is a stereotype threat?
i. (negative consequence of stereotyping) - self-fulfilling fear
that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.

Emotion and Cognition in Prejudice

532.

What are the 3 components of prejudice?

a. Component 1: Cognition (Stereotype)- Fundamental
underlying thought, overgeneralized belief (cognition)

b. Component 2: Affect prejudice carries an emotional

component
c. Component 3: Discrimination (tendency for Prejudice to lead
to behavior) -capacity to carry out a behavior and act on
prejudice
533.
Why is it difficult to decrease prejudice in certain personality
types?
i. the authoritarian personality very prejudiced: Theyre
obedient to superiors, but dont have much sympathy
for those they deem inferior to themselves they are
oppressive. And rigid thinkers, inflexible with their
viewpoints.
1. These people probably had a harsh bringing/lots of
discipline growing up
2. They use prejudice to protect their ego and avoid
confronting aspects of themselves because theyre
always focused on others.
534.
What is the frustration aggression hypothesis?
i. not personality based, but more emotional.
ii. Someone getting frustrated can lead to prejudice. When
someones frustrated, frustrations turn to aggressive
impulses, and direct that towards another. Often towards
minorities.
1. Display aggression towards other people
scapegoating. Often seen in times of economic
hardship.
535.
What is the Hypothesis of relative deprivation?
a. upsurge in prejudice/discrimination when people are deprived of
something they feel entitled to
i. Relative depreciation is the discrepancy of what they feel
theyre entitled to and what they get
1. Extent and how quickly this happens can lead to
collective unrest an upsurge in prejudice and
discrimination.
2. Linked to Frustration Aggression Hypothesis

Stigma- Social and Self

536.

537.

What is self-stigma?
i. Self-stigma is when individual can internalize all the
negative stereotypes, prejudices, and discriminatory
experiences theyve had, and may begin to feel rejected by
society, avoid interacting with society.
What are the four concentric circles of stigma?

i. Media: outer circle. Major source of stigma, because can

depict conditions as being dangerous, violent, moralfailings (
1. Social media is also huge component in creating
stigma.
2. We need to have guidelines for journalists to reduce
the stigma in society.
ii. Society interactions between self and society like
education/employment/health care and stigmatizing views
can affect individual to get a job (earning an income), in
healthcare (to get appropriate level of healthcare, follow-up
care, getting a screening), etc. A great intervention to stop
societal level stigma is the use of legislation and antidiscrimination laws.
iii. Family family can be shunned by society (if they have a
family member with stigmatizing condition), or family
might shun individual themselves. Ex. isolate the individual
who is stigmatized against in the family and keep isolate/as
secret within family. May be detrimental to
personal/intimate relationships, and interventions like
education/therapy are important.
iv. Self core circle media, society, family interactions can
be internalized by an individual and can lead to avoidance,
denial of condition, suffering of mental health conditions,
and no longer participating in society. Useful interventions
include educating, access to support groups/resources.
b. Bidirectional relationships between all these groups.

Social Perception
538.

539.

540.

541.

What is primacy bias?

i. first impression is more important than later data. Theyre
1) long (lasts a long time) 2) strong (tough to overcome)
and 3) easily built upon (people put extra emphasis on
info that helps reinforce first impression, and not info that
doesnt (confirmation bias)
What is recency bias?
i. Your most recent actions are also very important, and
people place a lot of emphasis on your recent
actions/recent performances, more than ones before the
recency bias.
ii. Ex: youre only as good as your last game, last match.
What is the halo effect?
i. The halo effect is tendency people have inherently
good/bad natures, rather than looking at individual
characteristics. Ex. the physical attractiveness
stereotype believe attractive people have more positive
personality traits.
What is the devil effect/ reverse halo effect?
i. Now imagine someone who we think is overall very poor.
Even if baseline skills are same, we perceive them to all be
lower the devil effect/reverse halo effect. Can carry
over into how we see other attributes about the person.

542.

Happens if overall negative impression or if one attribute is

very negative.
How do we deal with violations of the just world phenomenon?
i. When the just world hypothesis is threatened (which
occurs on a daily basis, we say the world is not fair.we
see evil deeds being rewarded and good deeds being
punished), we need to mentally make sense of them to
keep just world hypothesis in tact we use rational
techniques or irrational techniques
ii. Rational Techniques:
1. 1. Accept reality
2. 2. Prevent or correct injustice with charities, sign a
petition or changes to legal system
iii. Irrational techniques can also be used
1. 1. Denial of the situation refuse to accept the
situation
2. 2. Reinterpreting the events change our
interpretation of the outcome, the cause, and the
character of the victim.

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Ingroup and

Outgroup
543.

What is ethnography?
i. Study of particular people and places. It is a more of an
approach than a single research method in that it generally
combines several research methods including interviews,
observation, and physical trace measures. Good
ethnography truly captures a sense of the place and
peoples studied.
544.
What is ethnocentrism?
i. Using ones own cultural standards, such as norms and
values, to make judgments about another culture.
545.
What is Xenocentrism?
i. Xenocentrism: judging another culture as superior to
ones own culture
546.
Describe the elements of cultural imperialism?
a. the deliberate imposition of ones own cultural values on another
culture. People within groups share psychological connection
between peers, related to politics/culture/spirituality.
i. In group the one we are connected with. US.
Stronger interactions with those in the in-group than those
in the out-group. Interactions are more common and more
influential as well within In-group.
ii. Out group THEM . Group were not associated with.
,group of people who we do not feel connected too

iii. In-Group favouritism we favour/friendly to people in

our own group, but those in outgroup we are neutral we
dont give them favours we do to our in-group.
iv. Out-group derogation we are super friendly to our in
group, but not friendly to out group we discriminate.
Happens if we feel that the out group is threatening to or
undermine in groups success.
v. Group polarization Group makes decisions that are
more extreme than any individual member in the group
would want. This can turbo charge the groups viewpoints.

Social Behavior
547.

Why is proximity so powerful for relationship formation?

a. Geographical proximity /nearness is most powerful predictor
of friendships and relationships.
i. People date, like, marry people of the same neighborhood
or those that sit next to in class or work in the same office.
ii. Even with social media, and easy travel/connection with
individuals far away rule of proximity is still true (even if
you take internet dating into account).
548.
What is the exception to the mere-exposure effect called?
i. Exceptions: you start hating orange juice, start to despise
song you hear over and over on the radio. This is called
burn out but most things do not violate the mereexposure effect

Physical/Romantic Attraction
549.
What does physical attraction mean, and are there things
attractive to all people?
i. There are cultural differences, but some things are
universally attractive attractive across cultural
backgrounds. Things like youthfulness, skin
clarity/smoothness, body symmetry.
ii. Facial attraction is more important than body attraction.
iii. Both men and women are attracted to high level sexual
dimorphism the degree of difference between male and
female anatomical traits
iv. Also averageness is attractive turns out unique traits
are not most attractive. Attractiveness is related to
averageness. Most respondents pick 32 face average face
morph (faces digitized and averaged) as most attractive,
and 2 face average less.
550.
What is paraphilia?

i. The DSM-5 describes paraphilia as any intense and

persistent sexual interest other than genital stimulation or
fondling in phenotypically normal, physically mature, and
consenting human partners.
551.
How does Unrelated physiological arousal influence attraction?
i. you rate a woman while crossing a bridge higher because
you are experiencing sympathetic arousal as when
compared to rating the same woman while walking across
the street
ii. When you are physically attracted to someone you
experience this fast heartbeat (sympathetic arousal too).
iii. Our brain recognizes the sympathetic arousal from high
height and being attracted together.
552.
How is similarity important to attraction?
i. We tend to partner up with people who match our age,
race, religion, and economic status/educational level. We
like people who are like ourselves in looks.
ii. Couples can also stay together due to perceived
similarity because over time interests/beliefs are more
aligned. Perceived similarity can be just perceived they
think the other person is similar to them (but actually
arent similar to their partners at all).
553.
What is similarity bias?
i. implies we will not befriend people different from us.
554.
What is projection bias?
i. when we assume other share the same beliefs we do.
555.
What is false consensus bias?
i. when we assume everyone else agrees with what we do,
even if they do not.
556.
In the Harlow monkey experiment, why did the monkeys prefer
the (blank) mother?
i. Cloth mother acts as a secure base eventually monkey
is comfortable enough to explore world/cage on its own,
because it knows cloth mother will still be there.
1. If monkey became anxious, it would come back to
cloth mother.

Secure and Insecure Attachment

557.

When does stranger anxiety set in?

i. Around 8 months of age
558.
Describe Mary Ainsworths Strange Situation?
a. done to try to understand why some babies have stranger
anxiety and some dont. This research focused on mother-child
interactions primarily (not child-caregiver ones).
i. Experiment:

1. #1. Mother and child in room with a stranger

(stranger was part of experiment). Child allowed to
exaccoplore. Neither stranger nor mother interact
with child. Purpose: would they explore the space?
2. #2. Then mom leaves the room (without calling too
much attention to herself) and quietly leaves. Baby
left alone with stranger. Purpose: what is childs
response when mother leaves (does child keep
playing or does child start crying)
3. #3. Then mother returns. Mother + stranger + baby
in the room. Purpose: What is the childs response
when mother returns (are they happy, sad about her
return, or ignore her)
ii. Researchers found children could be split into 2 groups
those with secure attachment and those with insecure
attachment.
iii. 60% were secure attachment
1. #1: Child was secure with parent and explored room,
might have stayed with mother and eventually
explored room (aka. child might walk back to mother
at times or look back at mother, but comfortable
exploring)
2. #2: When parent left, child became really
distressed/upset
3. #3: when parent comes back, they would go to the
mother and be happy
iv. 40% were classified as having Insecure attachment
1. #1: children cling to mother, and stayed with mother
and did not explore.
2. #2: When mother left became upset/distress
3. #3: distress did not go away when she came back.
4. Others were avoidant were not upset when they left
the room and were indifferent to her when she
returned.
559.
What causes this? What causes some to have secure attachment
while others have insecure attachment?
i. Parenting style mothers who are sensitive to child and
responsive had secure attachment, and those
insensitive/unresponsive formed insecure attachments.
1. Insensitive parenting does not mean child
abuse/neglect. Means that parent doesnt focus on
childs needs.
560.
Does this parenting style have any long-term effects after
childhood?

i.

Yes. Early attachment style forms basis of adult

relationships later in life, especially with comfort with
intimacy/relationships.
1. Secure attachment with mothers leads to secure
attachment with partner. Feel secure and trusting of
partner.
2. Attachment style with infants affects our attachment
with our own children. Secure attachment people
tend to have secure attachments, vice versa.
3. How comfortable we feel with parents with first year
of life affects us into adulthood.

Aggression
561.

562.

What is the biological aspect of aggression?

i. Genes: evidence: identical twins, if one is more aggressive
the other is as well. With fraternal twins not the case,
and we can breed animals for aggression
ii. 2. Brain structure impact on aggressive behavior: No one
brain spot controls for aggression but there are circuits in
brain can inhibit/facilitate aggression. The amygdala (part
of limbic system which is composed of structures from
telencephalon, diencephalon, and mesencephalon)
facilitates our fear response, and when stimulated triggers
aggressive behavior. The frontal lobe is responsible for
planning, decision making, and importantly impulse
control, and correlation studies have shown criminals have
decreased frontal lobe activation. (perhaps those who
commit violent actions cant inhibit violent behaviors)
iii. Testosterone is hormone released by testes in men and
ovaries in women. Higher in men = why men are more
aggressive than women. Also why 70 y/o man is less
aggressive than a 17 y/o adolescent man. Drugs that
reduce testosterone levels tend to reduce aggressive
tendencies.
What is the psychological aspect of aggression?
i. Frustration-aggression principle, the idea that
frustration creates anger which can spark aggression.
Almost anything can cause frustration.
ii. Reinforcement-modeling can lead to aggression through
positive reinforcement. Parents who give into demands of
child during temper tantrums lead to more temper
tantrums in future.
1. Also if parents yell/hit each other, child will pick up
on behavior too (parents can model aggressive

563.

What
i.

ii.

564.

What
i.

behavior child can observe and pick up behavior of

parents).
are the socio-cultural aspects of aggression?
People act more aggressively in groups (ex. riots)
deindividuation you gain an anonymous status when
you are with large group of people. If people around
individual act poorly, individual might act poorly too. This
also explains why there is poor behavior on the internet
(they are anonymous here, and those around them model
poor behavior).
Social scripts when people are in new situations they
rely on social scripts, or instructions provided by society
on how to act. Ex. violent video games model aggressive
behavior for them. Viewing media can give them example
of how they should act. Ex. Lash out at someone when
something goes wrong
is a social cue?
a vocal or non-vocal suggestion, which can be positive or
negative. These cues guide conversation and other social
interactions. A few examples of social cues include: facial
expression, tone of voice and body language

Altruism
565.

What is kin selection?

a. Kin selection - people act more altruistically to close/kin than
distant/non-kin people.
i. Same when people share last names, especially true if
people have rare last names.
ii. Is this behavior altruistic if it gives us an evolutionary
advantage (ulterior motive), to pass on our genes (the
genes of those closest to us)? Is it really altruism if we are
helping select for genes of our kin?
566.
What is reciprocal altruism?
i. People are also more cooperative if they will interact with
that person again in the future. Giving with expectation
of future reward ((ulterior motive)
567.
What is cost-signaling?
i. giving signals to others that person whos giving has
resources. People have increased trust in those they know
have helped others in the past. Signals that the person is
open to cooperation ((ulterior motive)
568.
What is the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis?
i. suggests some people are altruistic due to empathy. High
empathy = high in altruistic behaviors.
569.
What is the Early developmental trajectory of altruism?

i. Helping behaviors begin early. Some newborns cry when

other newborns cry (they recognize other babies distress).
Helping behavior begins around age 2, children share toys
and play act helping/altruism. Age 4 begin actually begin
helping.
ii. Says that altruism might be a normal human behavior
because it occurs at such a young age. We have a
tendency to help other people without an alternative
motive.

Social interactions
570.

571.

572.

573.

574.

What is a master status?

i. In perception, an individual's master status supersedes
other identifying traits; is the social position that is the
primary identifying characteristic of an individual. It is
defined as "a status that has exceptional importance for
social identity, often shaping a person's entire life"
What is role strain?
i. when you cant carry out all obligations of a status,
tensions within one status. Causes individual to be pulled
many directions by one status,
What is role conflict?
i. Defined as the stress that people feel when they are
confronted with incompatible role expectations across
different social statuses they occupy. conflict/tension
between two or more different statuses, unlike role strain.
The different statuses compete for someones resources.
What is (social) role exit?
i. When an individual stops engaging in a role previously
central to their identity and the process of establishing a
new identity.
1. Example: When an individual retires from a long
career and must transition from the role of worker
with deadlines and responsibilities to a leisurely life
or when an individual becomes a parent and has to
change their lifestyle.
What is the difference between a primary group and an ingroup?
i. Primary group the is your core social group. Parents, close
friends from childhood. Long term relationships formed
which have a great social impact on the individual and
provide a selfless anchorpoint.
ii. In group- a group you are affiliated with based on
identification - can be ethnicity, nationality, gender,
religion, etc.

575.

What is a secondary group?

i. formal, impersonal, temporary, and business-like
relationships, based on a limited purpose/goal. Usually
short-term, and only see them sometimes. Do a few goaldirected activities with these people
576.
What are the two main parts of Erving Goffmans dramaturgy
approach to social interaction?
i. Front stage when people are in a social setting. Ex.
someone watches baseball with friends even if he doesnt
like baseball. Manipulating how hes seen to gain/make
friends. Putting on a front and acting for an audience
perhaps use this to your advantage one day.
ii. Back stage more private area of our lives, when act is
over. You can be yourself. You can do what you feel makes
you comfortable. Private area of your life.
1. Some things in backstage maybe nobody knows
about, few people who are close to you might know
about some things in your backstage
2. It is things we do behind stage. Ex; putting on
makeup! Things we do to prepare for front-stage
when nobody is around.
577.
What is impression management and how does it relate to
Goffmans 2 stages?
i. our attempt to control how others see us on the front
stage. Do this because we want to be viewed in a positive
way. There are multiple social situations which require
different scripts from you as an actor and hence there are
multiple front stages
ii. Backstage where you work on impression management
578.
What is side-effect discrimination?
i. how one institution/organization/sector can influence
another negatively. (Institutions economics, politics, law,
medicine, business and are all interrelated, and
discrimination in one area can effect another- it is a side
effect).
579.
What is past-in-present discrimination?
i. how things done in the past, even if no longer allowed they
can have consequences for people in the present. Negative
attitude of the past coming forward to the present and
causes minority to be discriminated against/feel discomfort

Organizations and Bureaucratization

580.

What are the three types of organizations?

i. Utilitarian Organizations members are paid/rewarded
for their efforts, ex. Businesses and government jobs, and
universities (receive diploma in exchange for your time).

581.

582.

583.

584.

ii. Normative Organizations members come together

through shared goals, ex. religion groups or MADD
(Mothers against Drunk Driving). Positive sense of unity
and purpose.
iii. Coercive Organization members dont have choice
about membership, ex. people in a prison, or some
militaries (you need to be discharged to leave). Usually
highly structured and have very strict rules
What is bureaucracy with regards to organizations?
i. the rules, structures, and rankings that guide
organizations. (DOES NOT necessarily mean something
negative, lines, or red tape)
What is bureaucratization?
i. process by which organizations become increasingly
governed by laws and policy. Ex. customer service, now
move through 12 menu options before reaching someone
to help you.
What is the iron rule of oligarchy?
i. even most democratic of organizations become more
bureaucratic over time until theyre governed by select
few. Why?
1. Conflict theory: . Once person gains leadership role in
organization they might be hesitant to give it up.
(those with power have vested interest in keeping it)
2. Also those who achieve power might have
skills that make them valuable.
What is George Ritzers McDonaldization?
i. policies of fast food organizations have come to dominate
other organizations in society. Primarily:
1. Principles of efficiency, calculability, predictability,
uniformity and control
ii. Not necessarily a bad thing. Pervasive throughout society.

585.
What are Max Webers 5 main characteristics of an ideal
bureaucracy, regardless of the organizations goal?
a. Division of labor people are trained to do specific tasks.
i. Pro people are better at tasks, and increased efficiency.
ii. Con increase alienation in workers, separating them from
others (conflict theory), and they dont see work from
beginning to end. Can lead to less satisfaction which leads
to less productivity.
iii. Also can lead to trained incapacity, where workers are so
specialized in tasks they lose touch with overall picture.
b. Hierarchy of organization each position is under supervision
of higher authority. Not all people of an organization are equal.
i. Pro clarify whos in command

ii. Con deprive people of voice in decision making

(especially of those lower in chain of command) and shirk
responsibility, especially in unethical tasks (I was just
following orders). Also allows individuals to hide mistakes
(often serious mistakes because no one person interacts
with all members).
c. Written rules and regulations
i. Pro clear expectations, uniform performance, equal
treatment of all employees, and sense of unity/continuity
to organization (laws/structures of organization stay same
as members come/go)
ii. Con stiffens creativity, and too much structure
discourages employees from taking initiative. Goal
displacement (rules become more important than goals
of organization)
d. Impersonality how individuals and officials conduct activities
in unbiased manner
i. Pro - equal treatment
ii. Con alienation, discourage loyalty to the group
e. Employment based on technical qualifications hiring in
bureaucracy is based on qualifications on person has and not
favoritism/personal rivalries
i. Pro decrease discrimination
ii. Con decrease ambition (only do what is necessary to
secure job and do nothing more). Leads to Peter
Principle, where every employee in hierarchy keeps
getting promoted until they reach level of incompetence
(they remain at a position because they are not good
enough at the job to get promoted any further).

Biological explanations of social behavior in animals

586.

What is the Cost-benefit analysis associated with foraging?

i. Cost: going out to get food can take up time and energy.
Benefit: survival. Goal is to get highest energy yield while
expending least amount of energy.
587.
What are the 2 main foraging strategies?
a. 1) Solitary foraging animal looks for food by itself.
b. 2) group foraging - animals look for food in groups. Hunting
based on both your behavior and those around you. Can lead to
competition within a group if food is scarce. Benefit of this
strategy is that animals can take down larger/more aggressive
prey and everyone can benefit.
588.
What drives foraging behavior?
i. Foraging behavior is driven strongly by genetics, but can
also be gained through learning, ex. young primates copy
adults and this is how they learn to forage. This teaches

them how to hunt and what kinds of things they should be

hunting.
589.
What is animal auto-communication?
1. can give information to themselves. Ex. bats and
echolocation and this allows them to gain information
about the environment
590.
What is the issue with anthropomorphism with regards to
animals?
i. Watch out for anthropomorphism attributing human
characteristics to non-human animals. We can interpret
and describe meaning to action of animals but we cant be
certain if we are correct about these interpretations
because we cant speak to the animals. ex. pet sleeping
with you at night and you can assume that they love you
but maybe they are just there because of your body heat.
591.
What are pros and cons of animals communicating through
sound?
i. Sound as communication is useful because its fast, can
reach many members at once, but not very private and
exposes the animals location
592.
How do animals use pheromones?
i. They can so release scents for communication called
pheromones (can be for mating, most often) or to guide
other members to food (ants use this method).
593.
Why are pros and cons of animals communicating through
Chemical signals/Olfactory Signals?
i. Chemical signals tend to be a lot slower than sound, but a
lot longer lasting. But because of this long lasting effect,
chemical signals are considered noisy a lot of chemical
signals in a given area.
594.
What are different types of somatosensory communication in
animals?
i. mating dances.
ii. Movement can also convey food location (bees)
iii. pair/group bonding (ex. birds cuddle/prune mates)
iv. body language (facial expression/body language) can
express emotion (dog showing teeth when threatened)
v. Also seismic communication (ex. movement of bug in
spiders web signals to spider to find it)
vi. electro-communication (fish)
1. While weakly electric fish are the only group that
have been identified to carry out both generation
and reception of electric fields, other species either
generate signals or receive them, but not both.
vii. Signals can be detected by predators as a way to find food.
595.
What are some different types of visual cues?

596.

597.

598.

599.

a. Often there is an Overlap between visual cues and

somatosensory communication.
i. Visual cues to find a mate (ex. peacock extends feathers to
attract a peahen),
ii. Visual communication through color (ex. A beak color on a
certain bird allows it to communicate to young and assist in
feeding youngfrogs use color to signal they are toxic to
other animals)
iii. Mimicry
iv. Camouflage
v. More types: bioluminescent communication (ex. fireflies
glow to attract mate),
vi. gaze following and social cues (ex. look where someone
else is lookingsilent way to signal location of food or
predator).
What are the 2 most common types of mimicry?
i. Batesian mimicry, where a harmless mimic poses as
harmful;
ii. Mllerian mimicry, where two or more harmful species
mutually advertise themselves as harmful
What are the three types of animal mating strategies?
i. Random mating- all individuals within a species are
equally likely to mate with each other. Mating not
influenced by environment/heredity or any
behavioral/social limitation. Ensures a large amount of
genetic diversity. {Bridge: Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
assumes this}
ii. Assortative Mating Non-random mating where
individuals with certain
phenotypes/genotypes/similarities/genes/physical
appearance tend to mate with each other at a higher
frequency, ex. large animals mate with large animals and
small animals mate with small animals.
1. Con- Can result in inbreeding.
iii. Disassortative Mating (Non-Assortative Mating)
opposite of assortative mating situation where individuals
mate with individuals with different or diverse traits with
higher frequency than with random mating.
Which strategy is best?
i. Scientists think assortative mating, because despite
dangers of inbreeding, help to increase inclusive fitness of
an organism.
What is inclusive fitness
i. Inclusive fitness concerns the # of offspring an animal
has, how they support them, and how offspring support
each other. Inclusive fitness is thinking about fitness on a

larger scale evolutionary advantageous for animals to

propagate survival of closely related individuals and genes
in addition to themselves. (explain kin selection)

Evolutionary Game Theory

600.
What is evolutionary game theory and what are its 2 central
factors?
a. tells us those with best fit to environment will survive and pass
on to offspring, and those genes will become more common in
successive generations.
i. Reproduction and environment are central to evolutionary
game theory.
1. Reproduction important to game theory because it
cant happen in isolation and it needs to involve
others
2. Environment how organism fits in with social and
physical environment. Work with other organisms to
find food, raise young, deal with predators. [Fitness
also depends on behavior of group] Strategy of each
individual depends on strategy exhibited by other
players.
601.
What is the main important difference between evolutionary
game theory and general game theory?
i. Game theory involves intention, where participants
reasoning about behaviors of others.
ii. Evolutionary game theory different because decisions
might not have a conscious intention on part of players.
602.
What does evo. Game theory predict?
i. Predicts the availability of resources
ii. social behavior (important for who they mate with
iii. Evolutionary game theory helps us predict traits we
would expect to see in a population.
iv. Evolutionary game theory evolutionarily stable
strategies (behaviors that persist in population once
present).
603.
How does altruism increase group fitness?
i. Altruism 2 groups of monkeys, one selfish and one not.
Selfish group doesnt alarm others of predators. Non-selfish
group alerts others and leads to overall success of group
over time. Making a call at their own expense is sometimes
good (the one who makes the call might not survive, but
those similar to it can be helpedthis is better strategy for
the population).

Social Structures
604.
What is the difference between the conservative and progressive
views of institutions?
i. Conservative View: institutions are natural byproducts of
human nature.
ii. Progressive View: institutions are artificial creations that
need to be redesigned if they are not helpful.
605.
What is ecclesia?
i. dominant religious organization that includes most
members of society, ex. Lutheranism in Sweden and Islam
in Iran.
606.
What are the 3 current approaches to religion?
i. Modernization: more info available to public, less emphasis
on religion.
ii. Secularization is the weakening of social and political
power of religious organizations, as religious involvement
declines.
iii. Fundamentalism reaction to secularization, go back to
strict religious beliefs. Create social problems when people
become too extreme.
607.
What is medicalization?
i. occurs when human conditions previously considered
normal get defined as medical conditions and are subject
to studies, diagnosis, and treatment.
608.
What is sick role?
i. expectation in society that allows you to take a break from
responsibilities. But if you dont get better or return, youre
viewed as deviant and harmful to society.
609.
What is social epidemiology?
i. epidemiology looks at health disparities through social
indicators like race, gender, and income distribution, and
how social factors affect a persons health. Social
epidemiology focuses on the contribution of social and
cultural factors to disease patterns in populations (the
social determinants of a disease)
ii. A branch of epidemiology: the branch of medicine that
deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control
of diseases and other factors relating to health.

Functionalism
610.

What are the 2 factors of Emile Durkheims functionalist theory?

i. Durkheim imagined a balance between institutions and
social facts

ii. Institutions are structures that meet the needs of society

like education systems, financial institutions, marriage,
laws, etc.
iii. Social facts are ways of thinking and acting formed by
society that existed before any one individual and will still
exist after any individual is dead. Unique objects that cant
be influenced and have a coercive effect over individual
only noticed when we resist. Ex. the law. Others are moral
regulations, religious fates, and social currents like
suicide/birth rate
611.
What are the two types of functions?
i. Intended consequences of institutions are manifest
functions, ex. businesses provide a service. School
educate people so they can get jobs. Laws maintain
social order.
ii. Unintended consequences, ex. schools expose students to
social connections/new activities, and businesses connect
people across society latent functions, indirect effects
of institutions. (unrecognized consequences)
612.
How do societies stay together?
i. Small societies are held together by similarities, but only
works for small onesevolves into large society.
(population growth in a small spaceand people become
specialized)
ii. In large societies individuals become interdependent on
each other as everyone is specialized in different roles.
Forced mutual independence.
613.
What happens when a a change to
production/distribution/coordination occurs?
i. will force others to adapt to maintain stable state society.
Social change threatens mutual dependence of people in
that society. Institutions adapt only just enough to
accommodate change to maintain mutual
interdependence.
614.
What are problems of functionalism?
i. focuses entirely on institutions without regard for individual
(only acknowledged). Also largely unable to explain social
change and conflict, so focused on equilibrium (between
social facts and institutions) little change and conflict is
modeled and no conflict can occur. More to society than
just stable state of its part, but functionalism is still useful
in examining the functions of its integral parts.

Conflict Theory
615.

Marx believed society will go through what stages?

i. feudalism -> capitalism -> socialism.

616.

Describe the 3 steps of societal evolution?

i. The thesis (existing generally accepted state) was
that bourgeoisie ran factories and working class provided
labor. Thesis causes the formation of the reaction
antithesis (opposed the accepted state).
ii. Antithesis - Desire of working class to change was the
thesis. The anti-thesis is the reaction to the thesis, the push-back from
those unhappy with the status quo.

617.

618.

1. Thesis + antithesis cant coexist peacefully. Thesis

is happy while antithesis is looking for change
always. .
iii. Struggle would lead to a compromise - a synthesis of the
two by creating a new state. Would eventually become new
thesis.
1. Could lead to members of the working class
becoming managers. Creating a new middle class
that might have more power than the factory owner.
This creates a new thesis/antithesis. Thesis is always
for the more powerful party.
2. Antithesis always wants to oppose the thesis and
there is a constant struggle of tension/unrest
between the two opposing sides.
How did Ludwig Gumplowicz expand on Marxs theory?
i. by proposing that society is shaped by war/conquest, and
cultural/ethnic conflicts lead to certain groups becoming
dominant over others.
What did Max Weber modify to this theory?
i. said he did not believe collapse of capitalism was
inevitable, but argued that several factors moderate
peoples reaction to inequality.
ii. Introduced three independent factors: Class/Status/Power
iii. Class: A person's economic position in a society, based on
birth and individual achievement. Weber differs from Marx
in that he does not see this as the supreme factor in
stratification.
1. Weber notes how corporate executives control firms
they typically do not own; Marx would have placed
these people in the proletariat despite their high
incomes by virtue of the fact they sell their labor
instead of owning capital.
iv. Status / Prestige: A person's prestige, social honor, or
popularity in a society. Weber notes that political power is
not rooted in capital value solely, but also in one's
individual status.
1. For example: Poets or saints can have extensive
influence on society despite few material resources.

619.

v. Power: A person's ability to get their way despite the

resistance of others, particularly in their ability to
engage social change.
1. For example, individuals in government jobs, such as
an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
or a member of the United States Congress, may
hold little property or status but still wield
considerable social power.
Problems of conflict theory?
i. doesnt explain the stability a society can experience, how
society is held together (unity), despite some members not
liking the status quo.

Social Constructionism
620.

621.

622.

623.

What is the theory overall?

i. argues that people actively shape their reality through
social interactions/agreement its something constructed,
not inherent.
1. A social construct is concept/practice everyone in
society agrees to treat a certain way regardless of its
inherent value, ex. money.
2. knowledge is not real, and only exists because we
give them reality through social agreement nations,
books, etc. dont exist in absence of human society.
3. The self is a social construct too our identity is
created by interactions with other people, and our
reactions to the other people and expectations
What is weak social constructionism?
i. Weak social constructionism proposes that social
constructs are dependent on:
1. Brute facts, which are the most basic and
fundamental facts. Ex. brute facts are what explain
quarks (or what makes the quarks) in atoms, not the
atoms themselves (something that is not defined by
something else).
2. Institutional facts are created by social
conventions and do rely on other facts. Ex. money
depends on the paper we have given value.
What is strong social constructionism?
i. Strong social constructionism states that whole of
reality is dependent on language and social habits; all
knowledge is social construct and there are no brute facts.
Cons of this theory?
i. it doesnt consider effects of natural phenomenon on
society, and for strong social constructionism it has
difficulties explaining those phenomena because they dont

depend on human speech or action. Strong SC only

explains reality through thoughts of humans, not using
fundamental brute facts.

Symbolic interactionism
624.

625.

626.

627.

628.

What is the focus of symbolic interactionism?

i. Symbolic interactionism examines small scale (or micro
level) social interactions, focusing attention on how shared
meaning is established among individuals or small groups
How does it address meaning?
i. Addresses the subjective meanings people believe to be
true meaning is the central aspect of human behavior.
Humans ascribe meanings to things, and act towards those
things based on ascribed meaning. Language allows
humans to generate meaning through interactions, and
humans modify meanings to thought processes.
Describe George H. Meads view of SI?
i. Particularly interested in symbols use that people use to
contribute values/beliefs to others.
ii. believed development of individual was a social process as
were the meanings individuals assigned to things. People
change based on interactions with objects, events, ideas,
others, and assign meaning to things to decide how to act
What did Herbert Blumer add to Meads work?
i. He proposed 3 tenants to explain symbolic interactionism:
1. 1. We act based on meaning weve given something,
ex. tree is place to rest.
2. 2. Different people assign different meanings to
things. We give meaning to things based on social
interactions, ex. someone tells us tree is infested
with ants. But we have different views of the tree and
we act differently.
3. 3. The meaning we give something isnt permanent,
ex. something bites my back, so might not sit under
next tree one finds. (Tree now is defined as shade on
a hot day with a potential of getting bit)
Cons of SI?
i. doesnt ask same questions as large scale sociologists do.
Sometimes considered as supplemental instead of full
theory, because restricted to small interactions between
individuals. But gives different perspective necessary for
fully understanding society. Capable of explaining of how
societies can change when created/recreated by social
interactions.

Feminist Theory
629.

What are gender differences?

i. socially constructed via process of socialization. Society
creates and passes down norms, customers, and
expectations for gender from generation to generation.
Creates a system that rewards/punishes the expectations
created. Examines how womens position in social
situations differ from men (usually worse, weaker)
630.
What is the difference between gender oppression and structural
oppression?
i. Gender oppression women are not only unequal to
men, but theyre oppressed, subordinated, and abused.
Positive state of being a woman is not acknowledged in
patriarchal society. Institution of family is especially
beneficial to men. Family was split into 2 types of labor;
Split role created educational and economic gap between
men and women.
ii. Structural oppression womens oppression and
inequality are due to capitalism, patriarchy, and racism.
Direct parallel to conflict theory. Women like working class
are exploited because of capital model, but not all women
express oppression in same way. Linked to race, class,
sexual orientation, age, and disability.

Rational Choice Theory and Exchange Theory

631.

What is rational choice theory?

a. Main assumption is the idea that everything people do is
fundamentally rational a person is acting as if they were
weighing costs and benefits of each action. Maximize personal
gain and self-interest. Pattern of choices (not an individual
choice).
i. How do we calculate value of these actions? Social
resources being exchanged time, information, approval,
prestige, etc. (determines value)
ii. Theory assumes you can explain social change/social
institutions.
632.
What are the 3 factors of rational choice theory?
i. Completeness (every action can be ranked), ex. A is
preferable to B which is preferable to C. (C is not then
preferable to A). (A>B>C)
ii. Transitivity (since A is preferable to B is preferable to C,
therefore, A is also preferable to C). (same as math A >B
>C, Therefore A>C).
iii. Independence of irrelevant alternatives (if I have a
fourth option X, wont change order of how I ranked first 3

633.

634.

635.

636.

options. Just add it in to existing order. (A>B>C, & B>X>C,

Therefore: A>B>X>C).
What is exchange theory?
i. application of rational choice theory to social interactions.
Exchange theory addresses decision making via costbenefit analyses
1. Looks at society as series of interactions between
individuals.
What are some of the main assumptions of exchange theory?
i. behavior resulting in a reward is likely to be repeated
ii. more often reward is available the less valuable it is
iii. interactions operate within social norms,
iv. people access have information they need to make rational
choices
v. human fulfillment comes from other people
(interdependence in social exchange),
vi. and standards people use to evaluate interaction changes
over time
What is social selection?
i. the idea that an individual's health can influence their
social mobility and, hence, their position in the social
hierarchy
ii. Developed by Joan Roughgarden, an evo biologist
Cons of exchange/rational choice theory?
i. are we really rational?
ii. Some peoples choices are limited by
gender/ethnicity/class, and make choice not in best
interest.
iii. And why some people follow social norms that act in best
interest of others (taxes, volunteering).
iv. And is it really possible to explain every social structure by
actions of individuals? Critiques dislike that all human
interactions are a rational process of pros/cons and makes
relationships linear when they arent.

Relating Social Theories to Medicine

637.

638.

How does functionalism relate to medicine?

i. if we look at medicine from this point of view, we ask: What
is the purpose of medicine. When people become ill
medicine ensures they return to functional state so they
can become functional to society.
How does conflict theory relate to medicine?
1. Unequal access to valuable resources in society
(education, housing, jobs) leads to heath disparities
and limited access to medical care.

639.

640.

641.

642.

2. Power struggle between different interest groups can

affect health of individual, ex. Factories (want lax
regulations) vs. people living nearby (want strict).
Asthma rates are higher with more pollution.
How does social constructionism relate to medicine?
i. There are stereotyped assumptions on both sides patient
may feel some symptoms arent important enough to
mention, or doctor makes false assumption based on how
patient appears.
How does symbolic interactionism relate to medicine?
i. Doctor-patient relationship, given meanings to lab
coat/stethoscope can affect interaction. Important for
doctor to realize the meaning the patient has given to tools
of medicine
ii. Changes in society recently, medicalization of society,
where everything has a medical fix.
How does feminist theory relate to med?
i. medicine is still a male-dominated field, heads of doctors
and hospitals usually men, and disparity in jobs/salary
between the two. Translates into a disparity in power.
How does rational choice-exchange theory relate to medicine?
i. People run every aspect of medical system and those
people will make decisions that benefit themselves more
than random sick stranger, may affect why people go to
doctor or not. Some people avoid doctors if they dont
think it will benefit them. Can cause something that could
have been easily treated to become a larger problem.
ii. Self-interested behavior of people in charge will trickle
down and affect well-being of patients

Demographics
643.

644.
645.
646.

What is the dependency ratio?

i. an age-based measurement takes people <14 and >65
who are not in the labor force, and compares that to # of
people who are (15-64)
1. Higher the ratio, more dependent people there are.
What is life course theory?
i. a holistic perspective that calls attention to developmental
processes and other experiences across a persons life
What is age stratification theory?
i. suggests age is way of regulating behavior of a generation
What is Activity Theory?
i. looks at how older generation looks at themselves. Certain
activities or jobs lost, those social interactions need to be
replaced so elderly can be engaged and maintain
moral/well-being

647.

648.

What is Disengagement Theory?

i. older adults and society separate, assumes they become
more self-absorbed as they age. Separation allows for selfreflection. But considers elderly people still involved in
society as not adjusting well, which is debatable.
What is Continuity Theory?
i. people try to maintain same basic structure throughout
their lives overtime. As they age people make decisions
that preserve that structure and use it to adapt to external
changes and internal changes of aging.
ii. Older generations continue to age and adapt and society
has to adapt with them.

Demographic Structure of Society Race and Ethnicity

649.
650.

651.

652.

653.
654.

What is racial formation theory?

i. looks at social/economic/political forces that result in
racially constructed identities.
Is race genetically based?
i. All humans 99.9% identical There is no genetic basis for
race. But it is important on a social level.
ii. In the US race is defined by skin color but hair color is
irrelevant. Latin America race category in the US can be
broken down to 5-6 races in SA.
How do race definitions differ in different countries?
i. In the US race is defined by skin color but hair color is
irrelevant. Latin America race category in the US can be
broken down to 5-6 races in SA.
ii. Shows that race is a social construct.
What is racialization?
i. racialization or ethnicization is the processes of ascribing
ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice,
or group that did not identify itself as such.
What is William Crosss Nigrescence model?
i. the process of becoming Black and being comfortable with
this acceptance
Describe the stages of William Crosss Nigrescence Model?
a. Pre-encounter: describes the identity before the encounter, and
thus refers to the initial being or frame of reference that will alter
upon facing the encounter. In this stage, one is unaware of
his/her race and the social implications that come with it.
b. Encounter: individuals undergo an experience that suddenly and
sharply calls race into perspective, and is generally an

awakening to racial consciousness. This encounter makes the

individual vulnerable to a new racialized worldview. Oftentimes,
this occurrence is easily recalled as the first time a child was
treated differently because of the color of his/her skin.
c. Immersion/Emersion: individual acts as though he/she has just
discovered Blackness. This individual often becomes adamant in
proving that one is black, while taking an apparent pride in
their blackness and simultaneously disparaging White culture.
d. Internalization: marked by an individuals comfort with rejoining
society with a strong enough sense of his own racial/ethnic
identity to be able to forge relationships with members from
other racial/ethnic groups. In this stage, the individual is able to
begin resolving conflicts between their worldview prior to the
encounter and after the encounter.
e. Internalization-Commitment: involves reaching a balance of
comfort in ones own racial/ethnic identity as well as the
racial/ethnic identities of others. This stage makes the distinction
between individuals who have internalized their new identity but
discontinue their involvement in the movement for social
change, and those that have internalizes their identity and
continue to be agents of social change. For a successful
transition into this stage, the individual must become their new
identity, while engaging in meaningful activities to promote
social equality and political justice for their group members.

Demographic Structure of Society Sex, Gender, and

Sexual Orientation
655.
What are the 5 considerations when examining persons gender
and sexual orientation?
i. Biological sex (male/female the biological
characteristics) person is born with. Are they male or
female? (XY sex Chromosome, or XX sex chromosome).
(More below)
ii. Identity -gender (masculine/feminine behaviors, roles,
activities in society ) they identify as (More below)
iii. Expression - gender they express (More below)

iv. Attraction - gender theyre romantically attracted to

(More below)
v. Fornication - gender theyre sexually attracted to (More
below)
656.
What is the difference between Klinefelters, XO/Turners, Triple-X
syndrome, and Jacobs syndrome?
i. Most often, Klinefelters syndrome results from the
presence of one extra copy of the X chromosome in each
cell (47,XXY). Extra copies of genes on the X chromosome
interfere with male sexual development, often preventing
the testes from functioning normally and reducing the
levels of testosterone.
ii. Turners syndrome results when one normal X chromosome
is present in a female's cells and the other sex
chromosome is missing (monosomy) or structurally altered.
The missing genetic material affects development before
and after birth.
iii. Jacobs or XYY syndrome is a rare chromosomal disorder
that affects males. It is caused by the presence of an extra
Y chromosome. Affected individuals are usually very tall.
Many experience severe acne during adolescence.
Additional symptoms may include learning disabilities and
behavioral problems (super-male) such as impulsivity.
iv. Triple X syndrome, also called trisomy X or 47, XXX, is
characterized by the presence of an additional X
chromosome in each of a female's cells. Although females
with this condition may be taller than average, this
chromosomal change typically causes no unusual physical
features. Most females with triple X syndrome have normal
sexual development and are able to conceive children.
657.
What are some non-binary gender types?
i. gender queer (dont identify as either male or female)
ii. Agender rejecting gender categories
iii. Gender fluid moving across genders
iv. Nonbinary not identifying w/ any specific gender
v. Third gender cultures that recognize non-binary gender
658.
What is the difference between gender roles and gender norms?
i. Gender role is a social role. It is "a set of expectations
associated with the perception of masculinity and
femininity."
ii. Gender norms can be identified as the prescriptions of
Gender roles. It is a type of socio-cultural regulation (to
encourage socially desirable behavior). This is a "pattern"
of what individuals - as members of a group, or
representing a particular social position should do, what is
required of them under given circumstances.

659.

660.

What is gender schema theory?

i. Cognitions regarding what constitutes a sex identity is a
gender schema. Theory that explains how individuals
should be gendered in society. How sex-linked
characteristics are maintained and transmitted to other
members of a culture. What constitutes men/female
characteristics and how stereotypes become ingrained in
the society.
What is a gender script?
i. organized information regarding the order of actions that
are approximate to a familiar situation. what we expect
men and females to do.

Urbanization
661.

662.
663.
664.
665.

666.

667.

668.

What is a rural area defined as?

i. Rural is anywhere with <1000 people per square mile (ex.
Farm country or Alaska). Has to have less than 25,000 total
residents.
What is an urban area defined as?
i. Urban areas include cities/towns with >1000 people per
square mile.
What is a city defined as?
i. Cities have over 50 000 people.
What is a metropolis defined as?
i. Metropolis have over 500 000 people.
What is the functionalist perspective of cities?
i. Cities have important functions and have a slice of culture
and diverse populations but also host to crime and other
disruptions to society.
What is the conflict theory perspective of cities?
i. Source of inequality that are entertainment centers for the
wealthy. Political and economic elite run the city to
increase personal resources while taking from the poor.
ii. Diversity of culture and social backgrounds increases
conflict on beliefs/values.
What is symbolic interactionist perspective of cities?
i. Cities are places where people have different ways of
looking at life. Strong cultural values, people have strong
cultural values and people have different interactions and
perspectives of urban life.
What are the three categories of city dwellers?
i. Cosmopolites: drawn to city due to cultural benefits and
convenience.
1. Ex. Students, artists, entertainment, and intellectuals
ii. Singles: Looking for jobs, partners, entertainment
iii. Deprived/Trapped: Cant afford to leave city.

669.

What
i.

670.

What
i.

671.

What
i.

672.

What
i.
What
i.

673.

674.

What
i.

675.

What
i.
ii.

1. Ex: unemployed, elderly, homeless, poor (Just make

enough to get by but not enough to collect money to
leave the city).
is urban sprawl?
Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl describes the expansion
of human populations away from central urban areas into
low-density, monofunctional and usually car-dependent
communities that results from poorly planned
suburbanization.
is urban decline?
As people move out of city centers to suburbs, city can fall
into disrepair. Buildings abandoned, unemployment/crime
rises. Population of city declines.
is the difference between a suburb and an exurb?
Exurbs are farther out, typically served by no public transit,
often have few or no municipal services (like water and
sewer or trash pickup) so the residents must dig wells for
water and contract privately for other services. Sometimes
exurban house lots are larger (think "McMansions") but in
recent years there has been a lot of exurban "townhouse"
development (townhouses where there is no town).
is urban renewal?
revamping old parts of cities to become better.
is gentrification?
When urban renewals they target a wealthier community
which increases property value. People there before are
pushed out because they cant afford property anymore
and it leads to great inequality in cities.
is rural rebound?
people getting sick of cities and moving back out to rural
areas. People who can afford to leave the city and looking
for simpler/slower life. Happens close relatively near to
urban centers so residences have convenience of a big city.
Often people move to scenic rural areas
is difference between a slum and a ghetto?
A slum is a heavily populated urban informal settlement
characterized by substandard housing and squalor.
Ghettoes are defined as areas where specific racial,
ethnic, or religious minorities are concentrated, usually due
to social or economic inequities.

Population Dynamics
676.

What 3 factors contribute to total growth rate?

677.
678.

679.
680.

681.

682.

683.

684.

i. Fertility is natural ability of human beings to have babies,

which add to the population. Fecundity is the potential
reproductive capacity of a female.
ii. Migration is number of people moving permanently (to
live, work, and eventually die) into/out of countries.
Doesnt change total people on planet but does change #
of people living in a region/country.
1. When going on vacation does not equal migration.
iii. Mortality is death, decreases population.
How are the above 3 factors measured?
i. Measure rates over 1 year, and per 1000 people so rates
are comparable and easy to understand.
What increases the growth rate?
i. Immigration: movement of a person into a country. # of
people moving in/1000
ii. Birth rate: Births/1000 people per yr. Can also look at
births in terms of fertility rate- # number of children a
woman is expected to give birth to in her child bearing
years. On avg. women in US gives birth to 2.1 children in
her life.
1. >2 = increase in population
2. = 2, no increase/decrease in population.
3. <2 = decrease the population
What is the total population increase rate?
i. (#Births + # Immigration)/1000. Multiply Rate by
population and you get the population increase
What decreases the growth rate?
i. Emigration: opposite of immigration. Movement of a
person out of a country. # ppl moving out/1000 ppl.
ii. Death (Rate)/Mortality Rate: #Deaths/1000 people.
What is the total population decrease rate?
i. Total Population Decrease Rate: (#death + #
Emigration)/1000. Multiply Rate by population and you get
the population decrease
What is the growth rate formula?
i. Growth Rate: (Total Population Increase Total population
decrease)/(Initial Population)*100= (Births + Immigration
Deaths Emigration)/(Initial Population)*100 [Can be
calculated as Current Population Initial Population /
(Initial) * 100]
What is the calculation for current population?
i. Initial Population + Births Deaths + Immigrating In
Emigrating out [ If this is a negative number, you have a
negative growth rate for that country]
What is a life-table/mortality table?

i. when you break mortality rate by age. Tells you probability

someone will die given their age which can vary from
country to country.
1. When looking at population of a country, allencompassing mortality rate is sufficient.

demographic transition
685.

What is the demographic transition model?

a. changes in a countrys population population will eventually
stop growing when country transitions from high birth/death
rates to low birth rate/death rates (fertility/mortality) which
stabilizes the population
i. theory suggests that economic changes, specifically
industrialization affect the relationship between the fertility
and mortality rates in a society. Population growth occurs
rapidly because the mortality rate falls before the fertility
rate does. Over time, the fertility rate also falls, thus
stabilizing a lower rate of population growth.

686.

What do immigrants do to demographics in developed countries?

i. they affect demographic transition of the country by
increasing fertility and decreasing mortality (often healthier
people migrate).
687.
Why is growth rate positive?
i. Economic benefits children can work to support family
ii. Sometimes, Government provides economic incentive to
families who have children (ex. Japan where birth rates are
low)
iii. Religion influences population growth (promotes large
families increases # of people of that faith and also
promotes stronger community). Some religions forbid use
of contraceptives by followers.
iv. Cultural influences of large families: children means you
get to pass down family traits and values. Prestige of
having children
688.
What are the 5 stages of the demographic transition model?
a. 1) Stage 1: High birth rates due to limited birth control,
economic advantage for more workers, and high death rate due
to disease/poor nutrition. Most countries at this stage prior to
18th century when death rates fell in Western-Europe. Large
young and small old population. Overall population remains fairly
stable
i. Pyramid Model: Stationary Pyramid. Large young
population and small old population (y axis)
b. 2) Stage 2: Seen in beginnings of developing
populations/countries. Population rises as death rate
decreases/lower death rate (availability of food, improvement in
health and sanitation). Trend was seen in 19th century WesternEurope after Industrial Revolution. High birth rates remain.
Overall population growth.
i. Pyramid Model: Early Expanding Population Pyramid. High
birth rates and death rate declining so you get a nice
pyramid shape.
c. 3) Stage 3: Death rates continue to drop and birth rates begin
to fall. Ex. Middle East. Population continues to grow
i. Birth rates fall because of birth control, social trend
towards smaller families.
ii. Death rate drops because Society has better healthcare,
iii. Occurs in countries that are becoming more industrialized
(fewer childhood deaths, and children no longer needed to
work or not allowed to work by law no longer
economically beneficial to have children). In this stage
children are sent to school instead of working to support
the family.
iv. Slower population expansion and longer lived elderly.

v. Pyramid Model: Late Expanding Population Pyramid. Birth

rates decline (fewer young people) and people are living
longer lives as people are getting older.
d. 4) Stage 4: Population stabilizes, both birth and death rates are
low and balance each other out. Population is large because it
has been growing until Stage 4.
i. Low Birth Rates: improvement in contraception and high
percentage of women in workforce. Many Couples focus on
careers over children. Ex: US/Australia
ii. Pyramid Model: Low Stationary Pyramid. Low birth rates
and low death rates (longer life expectancy)
e. 5) Stage 5: Speculation. World population will be forced to
stabilize.

689.

What is the Malthusian Theorem?

i. Malthusian Theorem suggests: Run out of resources,
global food shortage. We wont be able to maintain natural
resources for everyone on planet. (high mortality rate)
1. Current: 1B suffer from malnutrition already in world
of 7B

ii. Lack of resources will lead to public health disaster and

force population to stabilize stabilize and then negative
growth rate. Negative growth rate would occur when
population forced to finally have lower birth rate than
death rate.
iii. Pyramid Model: Constrictive. Fewer young people than
older people.
1. Due to rise of individualism
690.
What is the Anti-Malthusian Theorem?
a. Couples only want to have one child or have children later in life.
(low birth rate)
1. Better standard of living = smaller families because
children are economic burden. Also, industrialized
nations have better education/access to healthcare
which contribute to reproductive choices. China have
government policies to slow population growth to
preserve their resources.
2. Growth rate can INCREASE as well! Some evidence Higher standard of living promote fertility and higher
birth rate.

Globalization Theories
691.

What is the world-systems theory?

i. importance of world as a unit rather than individual
countries. Divides world into 3 countries: core, periphery,
and semi-periphery.
692.
What are the 3 types of countries according to the world-systems
theory?
a. Core = Western Europe and US. Strong Central Government with
enough tax to support it. Economically diversified, industrialized,
and independent of outside control. Strong middle and working
class. Focus on higher scope production of material goods rather
than raw materials.
b. Periphery = Latin America and Africa. Relatively weak
government, greatly influenced by and depend on core countries
and transnational corporations. Economy focused on narrow
economic activity (1 type usually) like extracting raw material.
High percentage of poor/uneducated people and strong upper
class that controls most of economy. Huge inequalities.
c. Semi-periphery = India and Brazil, middle-ground between
core and periphery. Not dominant in international trade but
diversified/developed economy. These semi-periphery countries
can come either from periphery countries moving up to core
countries or core countries declining towards periphery status.
693.
What is modernization theory?

694.

695.

696.

697.

a. all countries follow similar path of development from traditional

to modern society. With some help traditional countries can
develop similarly to todays developed countries did.
i. Looks at internal social dynamics as country adapts to new
technologies
ii. Looks at political and social changes that occur during
adaptation as well.
What is dependency theory?
i. Reaction to Modernization theory. Uses idea of Core +
Periphery countries to look at inequalities between
countries. Periphery countries (3rd world countries) export
resources to Core countries (first world). This is not
because they are in an earlier stage of development but
because they have been integrated into the world
economy as undeveloped countries. They dont have
means to become a developed nation. They will remain
poor and dependent on wealthier nations.
What is hyperglobalist perspective?
i. sees globalization as a new age in human history
countries become interdependent and nation states
themselves are less important. Countries become one
global society. Theorists dont agree if this good or bad.
Driven by a legitimate process.
What is skeptical perspective?
i. critical of globalization, considers it as being regionalized
instead of globalized. Third world countries arent being
integrated into global economy with same benefits as first
world countries. Current economy is not leading towards
global capitalism. Transnational corporations still tied to
their home countries and national borders remain
important.
What is transformationalist perspective?
i. doesnt have specific cause or outcome. Believe national
governments are changing, perhaps becoming less
important but difficult to explain change so simply. They
see the world order is changing. Just a new world order is
being developing. Many factors that influence change of
world patterns but outcome unknown.

Social Movements
698.

What was the Mass Society Theory of social movements?

i. Skepticism about groups that were involved in social
movement, said social movements would only form for
people seeking refuge from main society. People only join
to satisfy a psychological need for involvement.

ii. Ex. Nazism, Fascism, Stalinism (social movements in 20th

century that destroyed millions of lives). [People who
joined social movements were dysfunctional, irrational, and
dangerous]. Theory did not persist.
iii. After 1960s and Civil Rights movement different theories
came to light.
699.
What is the Relative Deprivation Theory?
i. actions of groups oppressed/deprived of rights that others
in society enjoy. Ex. Civil Rights Movement, a response to
oppression to people of color in US.
700.
What are three things needed for a social movement to form
according to relative deprivation theory?
i. 1. Relative deprivation: Those who join social
movements are not necessarily worst off. Whats important
is how people perceive their situation. [Ex. Someone
making 100k can be not happy while someone making very
little can be happy]. Feeling of discrepancy between
legitimate expectations and reality of present.
ii. 2. Feeling of Deserving better
iii. 3. Conventional means are useless a belief
conventional methods are useless to get help.
701.
What are criticisms of this movement?
i. people who dont feel deprived join social movement even
if they dont suffer themselves. And too risky for oppressed
to join a movement due to lack of resources to participate
(cant take time off work...but there is exceptions to this).
Also, when all 3 are present, no social movement created.
702.
What is Resource Mobilization Theory?
i. looks at social movements from different angle. Instead of
looking at deprivation of people, focuses on factors that
help/hinder a social movement like access to resources.
Gathering together people of a shared idea is not allowed
everywhere. Also, for a social movement you need money,
materials, political influence, media, and strong
organizational base to recruit members charismatic figure
needed (unite people/members/oppressed on a single idea)
Ex. Martin Luther King Jr. in Civil Rights Movement (beacon
to oppressed black population and gained support he
needed.

Culture and Media

703.

What is high culture?

i. High culture refers to patterns of experiences and attitudes that exist in the
highest class segments of a society. This tends to be associated with wealth
and formality.

704.

705.

706.

What is normative culture?

i. Normative culture refers to values and behaviors that are in line with larger
societal norms (like avoidance of crime).
What is popular cultures?
i. Popular culture refers to patterns of experiences and attitudes that exist
within mainstream normative society - like attending a game or watching a
parade.

What is a subculture?
i. subculture is culture (ideas) of a meso-level (medium)
subcommunity (small community) that distinguishes itself
from the larger dominant culture of larger
society/community.
ii. Subculture smaller than a nation but unlike a
microculture, it is large enough to support people
throughout their entire lifespan.
iii. Subcultures are unique from the larger society but still
share some of the culture of the dominant society.
707.
What is meso-level community?
i. population size falls between micro and macro levels. They
are medium sized groups such as communities,
organizations, cities, states, clans, and tribes.
ii. It is a subcommunity = smaller community in larger one.
708.
What is a microculture?
i. A microculture cant support people throughout their
lifespan, refers to groups/organizations only affecting
limited period of ones life. Ex. Girl scouts, college
sororities, boarding school.
709.
What is culture lag?
i. Culture lag is the fact culture takes time to catch up with
technological innovations, resulting in social problems.
Common in societies because material culture changes
rapidly, while non-material culture tends to resists change.
710.
What is cultural assimilation?
711.
Cultural assimilation is interpenetration and fusion of ethnic
minorities into the dominant culture.
712.
What does the functionalist perspective say about media?
a. According to the functionalist perspective, its main role is to
provide entertainment. Also says it can act as an agent of
socialization (ex. Collective experience of watching Olympics
on TV, and community building entire internet communities)
and act as an enforcer of social norms.
i. Also tells us what society expects of us through rewards
and punishment, ex. Seeing criminals. But can also glorify
behaviors that are wrong in society, like intense physical
violence.

ii. Also functions as a promoter of consumer culture. At the

turn of century average US child saw 20000 commercials a
year on TV. Only increased from there, and not clear what
impact this may have on next generation.
713.
What does the conflict perspective say about media?
a. focuses on how the media portrays and reflects and exacerbate
divisions that exist in society, ex. Race/ethnicity/gender/social
class.
i. Uses term gatekeeping to describe the process by which
a small number of people and corporations control what
information is presented on the media. In some countries
this is decided by the government, in others decided by
large media corporations. People who make the choice of
what media is produced the gatekeepers are
predominantly white, male, and wealthy according to this
theory.
ii. Gatekeeping has more effect on some media than others,
ex. Lots of control on big-budget movies, but little
overhead control on whats posted online.
iii. Also describes how mass media reflects the dominant
ideology. Giving time, space or privileging certain political,
economic, and social interests at the same time limiting
other views.
iv. Portrayal of racial minority groups/LGBT groups, working
class people, women (minorities in general), etc can be
underrepresented or stereotyped unrealistic
generalizations of certain groups of people.
714.
What is tokenism?
i. There have been some attempts to fix
underrepresentation/stereotyping in media. But these
attempts have sometimes wrongly resulted in tokenism
instead of diversity. [One minority character is added to a
movie as a stand in for the entire group]
715.
What does feminist theory state about the media?
a. similar to conflict theory, in that mass media
stereotypes/misrepresents society towards the dominant
ideology. Specifically, message about men and women are
represented in the media. Depictions of men and women often
stereotyped, emphasizing traditional sex roles/gender roles.
i. men are considered normal and women are considered the
other. Ex. (pens and pens for her or razors and
razors for women).
ii. Women are depicted as victims, men as aggressors
iii. Women are depicted as shallow or being obsessed with
looks. Makes it more likely they will be
sexualized/objectified.

716.

What does interactionist perspective say about media?

i. looks at mass media on microlevel to see how it shapes
day to day behavior. How mass media blurs line between
solidary and group activities ex. watching a movie (can
be watching with other people but because of societal
norms/theater rules you cant talk about it with those who
you are watching with). Looks at how we connect with
others using media changes over time (email/text message
instead of phone, or online dating increase).
717.
How does cultural transmission (learning from a different culture)
typically occur?
i. Culture transmission typically occurs through
observation, interactions, and the biological
component (shaped through evolution)
718.
How can behaviors be selected for?
i. Behaviors can be selected for: if they contribute to
fitness of a species.
719.
How do we know which behavior is selected for?
i. Well because there are cultural universals which exist
throughout the world for certain things/behaviors which
might have been selected for as human species evolved.
720.
What is a cultural universal?
i. all cultures have ways of dealing with
illness/medicine/healing Or wedding/funeral ceremonies.
Language (ability to communicate within a group).
721.
What is an example of how culture can affect evolution?
i. first year of life most humans get nutrition from milk, but
genes to digest this milk are switched after children are
weaned. But Northern Europeans which reared cattle, dont
have this effect their lactase gene doesnt turn off. So
those able to digest milk more likely to survive. More
surviving digesting-milk people so more digesting-milk
(lactose tolerant) offspring. They can drink milk/eat dairy
products because of ancestors culture directing evolution.

Social Inequality
722.

What is the glass ceiling effect?

i. Women are poorly represented in higher position in
companies
723.
What is the difference between intragenerational and
intergenerational mobility?
i. If change in social class happens in a persons own lifetime
intragenerational mobility.
ii. Intergenerational mobility change in social class
between generations, ex. Parent is working class and son is
middle class.

724.

What is the difference between social capital and social support?

i. Partly related to social support, social capital emphasize
the tangible resources provided by network members
(whereas social support tends to focus on emotional
resources).
725.
What is cultural capital?
i. The term cultural capital refers to non-financial social
assets that promote social mobility beyond economic
means. Examples can include education, intellect, style of
speech, dress, or physical appearance. Refers to
knowledge, skills, education, and similar characteristics
that are used to make social distinctions and that are
associated with differences in social status.
726.
What are the 4 principles that are posited to underlie social
stratification (society's categorization of people into socioeconomic strata?
1. First, social stratification is socially defined as a property of a society
rather than individuals in that society.

2. Second, social stratification is reproduced from generation to

generation.

3. Third, social stratification is universal (found in every society) but

variable (differs across time and place).

4. Fourth, social stratification involves not just quantitative inequality but

qualitative beliefs and attitudes about social status.[3]

727.
What are some of the major magnets that drag people away into
the periphery of society (social exclusion)?
i. The poverty magnet can drag people away from the core
part of society, and experience a greater degree of social
exclusion.
ii. The ill heath magnet can also drag people away, cant
participate in society.
iii. Certain groups may face discrimination, based on their
race/gender/sexual orientation/etc the discrimination
magnet.
iv. Education, housing, employment all important factors.
With lack of any of these they can be relegated to fringes.
728.
What is the difference between social isolation and magnetic
exclusion/segregation?
i. Social isolation when community voluntarily isolates
itself from mainstream, based on their own
religious/cultural/other beliefs.
729.
What is the theory of intersectionality?
i. asks us to consider all the different levels of discrimination.
Intersectionality calls attention to how identity categories
intersect in systems of social stratification. For example, an
individuals position within a social hierarchy is determined

not only by his or her social class, but also by his or her
race/ethnicity ((double or triple jeopardy)
ii. Originally coined in 1989 by Crenshaw as a feminist theory,
but has since expanded out and use it to explain
oppression in all parts of society.
730.
What is the difference between a protective factor and a riskfactor?
i. A protective factor can be defined as a characteristic at
the biological, psychological, family, or community
(including peers and culture) level that is associated with a
lower likelihood of problem outcomes or that reduces the
negative impact of a risk factor on problem outcomes.
Conversely, a risk factor can be defined as a characteristic
at the biological, psychological, family, community, or
cultural level that precedes and is associated with a higher
likelihood of problem outcomes.

Statistics and Studies

731.
732.

733.

734.

735.

What
i.
What
i.

stat is less susceptible to variation: median or mode?

Median
is data stratification?
Stratification is the process of dividing members of the
population into homogeneous subgroups before sampling.
The strata should be mutually exclusive: every element in
the population must be assigned to only one stratum. The
strata should also be collectively exhaustive: no population
element can be excluded. Then random, which often
improves the representativeness of the sample by reducing
sampling error.
What is a linear regression?
a. Linear regression degree of dependence between one
variable and another. Data is on scatter plot, one-way
influence of one variable on another.
b. all variables examined are continuous
What is the difference between correlation and regression?
i. Unlike regression makes no assumptions about which
variable is influencing the other.
1. If correlation coefficient is 1, perfect. If -1, opposite.
0, random.
What is a t-test?
i. compares mean values of a continuous variable
(dependent) between 2 categories/groups, ex. comparing
mean of a group to a specific value. Can also compare
means of 2 groups.

736.

What
i.

737.

What
i.

738.

What
i.
What
i.

739.

1. Two-tailed = possibility of relationship in both

directions, one-tailed = one direction.
is an ANOVA test?
similar to t-test, compare distributions of continuous
variable between groups of categorical variable, but can be
used for 3+ groups.
1. If value doubles, 100% increase
are some issues with comparative studies?
A major problem in comparative research is that the data
sets in different countries may not use the same
categories, or define categories differently (for example by
using different definitions of poverty).
is a cross-sectional study?
look at a group of different people at one moment in time
is a cohort study?
following a subset of population over a lifetime. A cohort is
a group of people who share a common characteristic (ex.
people born and exposed to same pollutant/drug/etc.) in
period of time.
1. A retrospective cohort design looks back at events
that have already taken place.
2. A prospective cohort design follows a group of
individuals over a period of time.
is a longitudinal study?
data is gathered for the same subjects repeatedly over a
period of time, can take years or decades. A longitudinal
study follows variables over a long period of time to look
for correlations.
is a case-control study?
observational study where 2 groups differing in outcome
are identified and compared to find a causal factor. Ex.
comparing people with the disease with those who dont
but are otherwise similar.

740.

What
i.

741.

What
i.

742.

What is a randomized controlled trial?

i. people studied randomly given one of treatments under

study, used to test efficacy/side effects of medical
interventions like drugs. Gold standard for a clinical trial.
743.
What is a quasi-experimental design?
i. A quasi-experimental design is similar to an experimental
design (with independent and dependent variables) but
lacks random assignment. This type of design describes an
effect on a specific cohort of the population.
744.
What is a 3x2 factorial design (read "three by two)?
i. we have three levels of the first variable crossed with two
levels of the second variable. Such a design gives us
3x2=6 treatment conditions in the experiment. Two
independent variables, 3 of first, 2 of 2nd.
745.
What is regression to the mean?
i. a phenomenon in which, over time, scores become more
average.
746.
What is the difference between closed questions and open
questions in a self-report study?
i. Closed questions provide quantitative data, no insights
ii. Open questions qualitative data ask participant to
answer in own words

Internal and External Validity

747.
748.

749.

750.

751.

What is validity?
i. accuracy. Items that are high in validity accurately address
the construct.
What is internal validity?
i. In research, internal validity is the extent to which you are
able to say that no other variables except the one you're
studying caused the result. For example, if we are studying
the variable of pay and the result of hard work, we want to
be able to say that no other reason (not personality, not
motivation, not competition) causes the hard work.
What is external validity?
i. Whether results of the study can be generalized to other
situations and other people. To protect external validity,
sample must be completely random, and all situational
variables must be tightly controlled.
What is population validity?
i. a type of external validity which describes how well the
sample used can be extrapolated to a population as a
whole. Generalizability.
What is ecological validity?
i. the extent to which the conclusions of your research study
can be generalized to the settings and situations in which

the phenomenon that you are studying would naturally

occur.
752.
What is the relation between experimental control and ecological
validity?
i. There is almost always a trade-off between ecological
validity and experimental control. The more we try to
control a study or experiment, the less ecological validity
that we have. This is because when we control an
experiment, we are changing the conditions under which
the experiment occurs. These changes are different from
what we would find in a natural setting.

Test Validity
753.
754.

What is test validity?

i. is an indicator of how much meaning can be placed upon a
set of test results.
What is criterion validity?
i. assesses whether a test reflects a certain set of abilities.
Criterion validity refers to whether a variable is able to
predict a certain outcome.

755.

What is concurrent validity?

i. Concurrent validity measures how well a test matches up with a
benchmark test, which is usually another valid measure of the same
construct.

756.
757.

758.
759.

What is predictive validity?

i. the extent to which an assessment is able to predict
something it should be able to predict
What is construct validity?
i. Construct validity describes the extent to which the theory
is supported by the data or results of the research. the
degree to which a test measures what it claims, or
purports, to be measuring
What is convergent validity?
i. Tests that constructs that are expected to be related are, in
fact, related. Subtype of construct validity.
What is discriminant, or divergent, validity?
i. tests that constructs that should have no relationship do, in
fact, not have any relationship. Subtype of construct
validity.

760.

761.
762.

763.

764.

What is content validity?

i. Content validity is a measure of comprehensiveness and
examines whether or not a test covers every single
element of a construct.
What is face validity?
i. a measure of how representative a research project is at
face value,' and whether it appears to be a good project.
What is a confounding variable?
i. A confounding variable is a third, oft-unintended variable in
an experiment that could provide an alternative
explanation to the relationship between the variables of
interest.
What is a mediating variable?
i. A mediating variable is one which explains the relationship
between the IV and DV. The mediator adds to the overall
variance accounted for in the data and can explain how the
dependent and independent variables are related.
1. IV variations account for variations in mediator
2. Mediator variation account for variations in DV
3. When mediator is added to the mode, the
relationship between the IV and DV decreases

What is a moderating variable?

i. A moderating variable is a third variable that affects the
strength of the relationship between the independent and
dependent variable in data analysis. Examples of
moderating variables include sex and race.
1. Changing the strength or direction of the relationship
between IV and DV
765.
What is the difference between a moderating and a mediating
variable?
i. Mediator variables are variables that explain the
correlation between two variables, while moderating
variables affect the relationship between two variables.
766.
What is ambiguous temporal precedence?
i. Ambiguous temporal precedence is defined as the inability
of the researcher (based on the data) to specify which
variable is the cause and which variable is the effect.

767.

What are the 3 conditions required for causality?

Reliability, Control, Error, Misc. Experiment Jargon

768.
769.

770.

771.
772.

What is reliability?
i. Reliability is the degree to which an assessment tool
produces stable and consistent results.
What is test-retest reliability?
i. Retest reliability, or consistency when a measure is taken
multiple times.
What is inter-rater reliability?
i. It gives a score of how much homogeneity, or consensus,
there is in the ratings given by judges.

What is the good-subject tendency?

i. refers to the tendency of participants to act according to
what they think the experimenter wants.
What is counterbalancing?
i. In experimental design, a method of controlling for the
effects of an extraneous variable by ensuring that its

773.

What
i.
ii.

iii.

774.

What
i.

775.

What
i.

776.

What
i.

777.

What
i.

778.

What
i.

779.

What

effects are equal in all treatment conditions. For example,

order effects can be counterbalanced by administering the
various procedures in different sequences.
are the main types of control groups in an experiment?
Negative controls are groups where no phenomenon is
expected. They ensure that there is no effect when there
should be no effect.
Positive controls are groups where a phenomenon is
expected. That is, they ensure that there is an effect when
there should be an effect, by using an experimental
treatment that is already known to produce that effect (and
then comparing this to the treatment that is being
investigated in the experiment).
Vehicular control what experimental group does without
the directly desired impact. You would want to know if the
mode of treatment as such has any role in the effect of the
substance.
is a power error?
statistical power is the likelihood that a study will detect an
effect when there is an effect there to be detected. If
statistical power is high, the probability of making a Type II
error, or concluding there is no effect when, in fact, there is
one, goes down.
is alpha?
The significance level, also denoted as alpha or , is the
probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true.
the probability of Type I error in any hypothesis test;
incorrectly claiming statistical significance. For example, a
significance level of 0.05 indicates a 5% risk of concluding
that a difference exists when there is no actual difference.
is the confidence interval?
gives an estimated range of values which is likely to
include an unknown population parameter, the estimated
range being calculated from a given set of sample data.
is variance?
variance is the expectation of the squared deviation of a
random variable from its mean, and it informally measures
how far a set of (random) numbers are spread out from
their mean. The average of the squared differences from
the Mean.
is beta?
Beta is the probability of Type II error in any hypothesis
test; incorrectly concluding no statistical significance.
is the 68-95-99.7 rule?

i. 68.27%, 95.45% and 99.73% of the values lie within one,

two and three standard deviations of the mean,
respectively.

Types of Research Bias

780.
What is hindsight bias (also known as the knew-it-all-along effect
or creeping determinism)
i. the inclination, after an event has occurred, to see the
event as having been predictable, despite there having
been little or no objective basis for predicting it.
781.
What is the normalcy bias?
i. causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a
disaster occurring and its possible effects.
782.
What is reconstructive bias?
783.
Most research on memories suggests that our memories of the
past are not as accurate as we think, especially when we are
remembering times of high stress.
784.
What is selection bias?
i. is the selection of individuals, groups or data for analysis in
such a way that proper randomization is not achieved,
thereby ensuring that the sample obtained is not
representative of the population intended to be analyzed
785.
What is attrition bias?
i. Attrition bias is a kind of selection bias caused by attrition
(loss of participants discounting trial subjects/tests that did
not run to completion. It includes dropout, nonresponse
(lower response rate), withdrawal and protocol deviators. It
gives biased results where it is unequal in regard to
exposure and/or outcome. Different loss of subjects in
intervention and comparison group may change the
characteristics of these groups and outcomes irrespective
of the studied intervention.
786.
What is social desirability bias?
i. the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in
a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. It can
take the form of over-reporting "good behavior" or underreporting "bad", or undesirable behavior.
787.
What is subjective validation?
i. sometimes called personal validation effect, is a cognitive
bias by which a person will consider a statement or
another piece of information to be correct if it has any
personal meaning or significance to them.
788.
What is reactivity?
i. Reactivity is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals
alter their performance or behavior due to the awareness
that they are being observed.

789.

790.
791.

792.

793.

794.

795.

796.

797.

What is operationalization?
i. the process of strictly defining variables into measurable
factors. The process defines fuzzy concepts and allows
them to be measured, empirically and quantitatively.
Allows for the establishment of a causal relationship
between variables.
What is an embedded field study?
i. when researchers pose as participants
What are demand characteristics?
i. refers to an experimental artifact where participants form
an interpretation of the experiment's purpose and
subconsciously change their behavior to fit that
interpretation.
What is the split-half method?
i. It measures the extent to which all parts of the test
contribute equally to what is being measured. This is done
by comparing the results of one half of a test with the
results from the other half. A test can be split in half in
several ways, e.g. first half and second half, or by odd and
even numbers. If the two halves of the test provide similar
results this would suggest that the test has internal
reliability.
What is word associating testing?
i. test of personality and mental function in which the subject
is required to respond to each of a series of words with the
first word that comes to mind or with a word of a specified
class of words
What is implicit association testing?
i. The implicit-association test (IAT) is a measure within social
psychology designed to detect the strength of a person's
automatic association between mental representations of
objects (concepts) in memory.
What is operational span testing?
i. To determine whether there is a general capacity for all
working memory tasks, Turner and Engle (1989) developed
a task called operation-word-span or OSPAN.A task in which
subjects are asked to perform a simple mathematical
verification (e.g., 4/2 +1 = 3) and then read a word, with a
recall test following some number of those verify/read
pairs. The maximum number of words that can be recalled
is the "operation span".
What is psychophysical discrimination testing?
i. Varying a physical stimulus slightly and observing the
effect on a subjects experience or behavior in order to
better understand perceptual processing.
What is the method of limits?

798.

799.

800.

i. In the ascending method of limits, some property of the

stimulus starts out at a level so low that the stimulus could
not be detected, then this level is gradually increased until
the participant reports that they are aware of it. For
example, if the experiment is testing the minimum
amplitude of sound that can be detected, the sound begins
too quietly to be perceived, and is made gradually louder.
In the descending method of limits, this is reversed. In
each case, the threshold is considered to be the level of
the stimulus property at which the stimuli are just detected
What are issues with the method of limits?
i.
A possible disadvantage of these methods is that the
subject may become accustomed to reporting that they
perceive a stimulus and may continue reporting the same
way even beyond the threshold (the error of habituation).
Conversely, the subject may also anticipate that the
stimulus is about to become detectable or undetectable
and may make a premature judgment (the error of
anticipation).
What is the method of constant stimulation?
i. Instead of being presented in ascending or descending
order, in the method of constant stimuli the levels of a
certain property of the stimulus are not related from one
trial to the next, but presented randomly. This prevents the
subject from being able to predict the level of the next
stimulus, and therefore reduces errors of habituation and
expectation. For 'absolute thresholds' again the subject
reports whether he or she is able to detect the stimulus. For
'difference thresholds' there has to be a constant
comparison stimulus with each of the varied levels.
What is the method of adjustment/average error?
i. The method of adjustment asks the subject to control the
level of the stimulus, instructs them to alter it until it is just
barely detectable against the background noise, or is the
same as the level of another stimulus. This is repeated
many times. This is also called the method of average
error. In this method the observer himself controls the
magnitude of the variable stimulus beginning with a
variable that is distinctly greater or lesser than a standard
one and he varies it until he is satisfied by the subjectivity
of two. The difference between the variable stimuli and the
standard one is recorded after each adjustment and the
error is tabulated for a considerable series. At the end
mean is calculated giving the average error which can be
taken as the measure of sensitivity.

801.

802.

803.

804.

What is an order effect?

i. Order effects refer to differences in research participants
responses that result from the order (e.g., first, second,
third) in which the experimental materials are presented to
them.
What are practice effects?
i.
Practice effects are considered a common subtype of order
effects. Practice effects can be defined as influences on
performance that arises from a practicing a task
Performance can improve after more trials are conducted
because this allows participants to become more accurate
and a lot quicker. Participants' performance may decrease
again, however, because they do have a tendency to
become bored and/or fatigued after a while.
What is the carry-over effect?
i. Carryover effects occur when the effect of an experimental
condition carries over, influencing performance in a
subsequent condition. These effects are more likely when
the experimental conditions follow each other quickly. The
same occurs for carry-over effects, when participants
respond in a more biased manner to later questions
because of any earlier questions.
What is maturation?
i. Subjects change during the course of the experiment or
even between measurements. For example, young children
might mature and their ability to concentrate may change
as they grow up. Both permanent changes, such as
physical growth and temporary physiological ones like
fatigue, provide "natural" alternative explanations; thus,
they may change the way a subject would react to the
independent variable.

Social Groups and Marriage

805.

806.

807.

What is exogamy?
i. Exogamy is a social arrangement where marriage is
allowed only outside a social group. The social groups
define the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and
enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity.
What is endogamy?
i. Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a
specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting
others on such a basis as being unsuitable for marriage or
for other close personal relationships.
What is homogamy?
i. Homogamy is marriage between individuals who are, in
some culturally important way, similar to each

808.

What
i.

809.

What
i.

other. Homogamy may be based on socioeconomic status,

class, gender, ethnicity, or religion, or age in the case of
the so-called age homogamy.
is heterogamy?
Heterogamy is a marriage between two individuals who are
culturally different.
is homophily?
Homophily - the tendency for people to choose
relationships with other people who have similar attributes.
people often prefer mixing with those who are similar to
themselves. This is known as preferred mixing.

Rando
810.

What is Antecedent predisposition?

i. When an organism perceives an antecedent stimulus, it
behaves in a way that maximizes reinforcing consequences
and minimizes punishing consequences.
811.
What is the orbitofrontal cortex associated with in regards to
emotion?
i. The orbitofrontal cortex is associated with the processing
of both positively and negatively balanced emotions. When
activity is lowered in the right hemisphere, euphoria is
experienced. Conversely, when activity is lowered in the
left hemisphere, depression is reported.
812.
What facial expressions have been linked to the subcallosal
cingulate?
i. The recognition of facial expressions associated with
sadness
813.
What is the insula of the brain associated with?
i. The insula is the brain structure most associated with
disgust. The anterior insula receives signals from the
senses of olfaction and gustation (mouth/nose are in front
of body), while the posterior insula receives signals from
audition and somatosensation (rear of body)
ii. Most perception of warmth occurs in the insula
814.
What has the left superior temporal sulcus with associated with?
i. Anger
815.
Damage to the basal ganglia causes problems with recognizing
i. Angry facial expressions and disgust
ii. Parkinsons disease (basal ganglia) people never feel
disgusted
816.
What is prosopagnosia?
i. neurological disorder characterized by the inability to
recognize familiar people based on facial information
alone.
817.
What is the role of the fusiform gyrus?

i. a part of the visual system in the brain, and plays a role in

high level visual processing and recognition. (part of
temporal and occipital lobe)
818.
What is the two-streams hypothesis?
i. The Two-Streams hypothesis is a widely accepted, but still
controversial, account of visual processing. As visual
information exits the occipital lobe, it follows two main
channels, or "streams." The ventral stream (also known as
the "what pathway") travels to the temporal lobe and is
involved with object identification. The dorsal stream (or,
"where pathway") terminates in the parietal lobe and
process spatial locations
819.
What is visual agnosia?
i. Visual agnosia is a disorder of the ventral pathway,
because it is an inability to recognize an image. (acronym:
Visual = Ventral)
820.
What is the significance of Ca2+?
i. indicator of chelation. This positively charged ion is
extremely versatile. A rise in this ion, postsynaptically, in
dendritic spines is essential for activity-dependent
plasticity. This ion is an important second messenger in the
neuron. Abnormal amounts of signaling in this ion has been
implicated in disease states such as Huntingtons,
Alzheimers and schizophrenia.
821.
What is chelation?
i. is a type of bonding of ions and molecules to metal ions. It
involves the formation or presence of two or more separate
coordinate bonds between a polydentate (multiple bonded)
ligand and a single central atom.[1][2] Usually these
ligands are organic compounds, and are called chelants,
chelators, chelating agents, or sequestering agents.
822.
What is informed consent?
i. Informed Consent means that subjects are well
informed about the study, the potential risks and benefits
of their participation and that it is research, not therapy,
in which they will participate.
823.
What is the difference between Beneficence and
nonmaleficence?
i. Beneficence is a concept in research ethics which states
that researchers should have the welfare of the research
participant as a goal of any clinical trial or other research
study. nonmaleficence states that we should act in ways
that do not inflict evil or cause harm to others.
824.
How do antipsychotics work?

825.

826.

827.

828.

829.

830.
831.

i. Both types (typical and atypical) block dopamine

pathways. This can cause Parkinsons like symptoms in the
form of extrapyramidal motor control disability and
negative symptoms.
What are typical antipsychotics and its symptoms?
i. Typical Antipsychotics used to treat psychiatric conditions.
Neuroleptics: Decrease positive symptoms of
schizophrenia but can increase negative symptoms, such
as a state of apathy, lack of initiative and limited range of
emotion. First generation.
What are atypical psychotics?
i. Block serotonin as well. Less likely to cause extrapyramidal
motor control disability, but still have negative symptoms.
these have increased risk of stroke, cardiac death, blood
clot and diabetes.
What is the Thomas theorem of sociology?
i. If men define situations as real, they are real in their
consequences. In other words, the interpretation of a
situation causes the action.
What is the Stroop effect?
i. the Stroop effect is a demonstration of interference in the
reaction time of a task. When the name of a color (e.g.,
"blue", "green", or "red") is printed in a color not denoted
by the name (e.g., the word "red" printed in blue ink
instead of red ink), naming the color of the word takes
longer and is more prone to errors than when the color of
the ink matches the name of the color.
Describe the effects of interference on an emotional Stroop test?
i. In an emotional Stroop task, an individual is given negative
emotional words like "grief," "violence," and "pain" mixed
in with more neutral words like "clock," "door," and "shoe".
[34] Just like in the original Stroop task, the words are
colored and the individual is supposed to name the color.
Research has revealed that individuals that are depressed
are more likely to say the color of a negative word slower
than the color of a neutral word.
What is a teratogen?
i. a substance or environmental factor that can disrupt
normative fetal development.
What is phenylketonuria?
i. Phenylketonuria (commonly known as PKU) is an inherited
disorder that increases the levels of a substance called
phenylalanine in the blood. Phenylalanine is a building
block of proteins (an amino acid) that is obtained through
the diet. It is found in all proteins and in some artificial

832.

833.

sweeteners. If PKU is not treated, phenylalanine can build

up to harmful levels in the body, causing intellectual
disability and other serious health problems.
What is temporal monotocity?
i. assumes that adding pain at the end of a painful
experience (in this case extending the painful experience)
will worsen the retrospective evaluation of the experienced
pain and adding pleasure at the end will enhance the
retrospective evaluation.